Yin and Yang
by Hachichi the Medic
Summary: Kururu's new invention of a super-soldier shocks everyone in the Platoon, but especially Giroro. But how good is this new "soldier", and how will their being there change the rest of the Platoon?
1. Chapter 1

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 7th, 2008.

Okayyyyy so bear with me, here. I'm really out of my fanfiction element here, but I had this idea on my brain and I knew I couldn't get back to my normal work until I'd flushed out my brain a bit, so bear with me. Ummmm there's a bit of language, nothing too bad, though, really. It'll never get worse than in the fansubs, I'm not big on some of the big curse words. Feedback is always much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

P.S.: Halfway through this, I think you'll think it's going one way, but it'S not, really. : )

Chapter one:

"Doraemmooonnnnnn!" came a bellow down the long metal hallway.

"Ku ku... Yes, Nobita?" the little yellow scientist didn't miss a beat, nor did he look away from the numerous screens in front of him, all which flickered back different points from the Hinata house. Natsumi was listening to her radio... Dororo was hidden among the rafters again, crying or... Kururu didn't really care. Aki was at work, pulling another triple shift, while Fuyuki and Tamama remained glued to the television... It was all incredibly tedious, incredibly ordinary, and in Kururu's eyes, incredibly boring.

"I need your help!" ah, being needed. He may not have been a superstar among the group, but Kururu always enjoyed the opportunity to show off.

"Kukuku... Eh, and what is it now?" he could have some fun with this, Kururu thought with another trilling laugh as he turned around his chair and came face-to-face with the energetic Sergeant.

He had already agreed after Keroro's first sentence, but allowed the green frog to continue all the same. It was probably good he got out some of his energy this way.

After finishing his rather high-pitched and bothersome speech, having worked himself into a good pant, Keroro stood there, awaiting an answer.

"Kuku... Anything for you, fearless leader... But this will cost you," Kururu noted the Sergeant's smile quickly fell at this news, and was quick to add. "I don't want money from you."

"All right! I'm in!" Keroro shouted and clasped together his hands. "Kururu, Kururu, you little yellow genius, how can I ever pay you back?"

Kururu gave another laugh and leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. "Well..." Anyone with a working conscience would have been unnerved at the yellow devil's laugh; Keroro's was clouded by pure energy and excitement, and the green platoon leader was quick to agree.

"You WHAT?"

"G-Giroro Gocho, you know you scream way too much, i-it can't be healthy,:" Keroro chuckled, holding up his hands in defense. Bad move not covering his face instead; moments later there was a gun pointed square inbetween his eyes. "N-now it's just one little get together!"

"You sold me to the devil!" Giroro snarled, not paying mind Kururu, Tamama and Mois's presence in the meeting room. He had jumped over the desk and now stood on it, glaring down the gun at Keroro.

"Giroro Gocho, I think I'm a bit offended, kuku..." came a chuckle. Kururu was obviously amused by this, and Tamama looked back at the Sergeant Major with worry. "You really think I'll be that bad of a date?"

"It's all going towards the invasion, Giroro Gocho!" Keroro reassured the Corporal, who eased back a bit. "Kururu Socho's onto something, that was the only catch!"

"I don't trust you," Giroro spat, now turned back to Kururu.

"If my intent was to use you in an experiment I would've just abducted you, ku ku ku..." Kururu replied, looking as calm as ever as he spoke.

Giroro gave a growl and jumped down from the desk, and walked past Kururu and Tamama. He glared at the intelligence expert, stopping momentarily, "If this is some trick, I'll have your head."

"I'll see you at six," Kururu replied with a yawn and a stretch.

"...I've never seen him this upset, not in a long time," Tamama admitted after Giroro had gone.

"Pffft, Pekopon's made a drama queen out of him," Keroro waved his hand at this and brushed off the statement. "Now, on to more important things!"

"Could you say, a complete turnaround?" Mois chimed in.

"...Giroro-kun..." a small gentle voice came from the rafters, and the white tile above replaced itself silently.

"...A dinner date! He's crazier than anyone lets on, he should've been let go a long time ago," Giroro grumbled the whole way back to his tent. He then sighed and collapsed on one of the cinder blocks that surrounded the fire he tended to... Of all the damned luck, to finally get a date on Pekopon and it was with... That thing.

He sulked outside until finally six in the evening rolled around, and he trudged back to the base... If it was for the good of the invasion...

He couldn't bring himself to even speak to Natsumi; he felt as though he were cheating on her, in a way. He looked as though he was on his way to a funeral as he finally did make it down to Kururu's lab. He wanted nothing more than to shoot out the eyes of the facade on the front of the lab... Knock out the teeth, burn the entire thing to the ground and dance happily in its ashes.

"Kuku, how nice you could come," Kururu had set up a table in the middle of where he usually did a majority of his work.

"...Don't speak to me. Don't even look at me," Giroro seethed as he took a seat at the table. The indignity of his situation rose as he felt Kururu push in the chair, and Giroro clutched onto the edges of the seat; he knew with a little more pressure he would snap the box of the chair clear in half.

Kururu took a seat across from Giroro and folded his hands, then allowed his chin to rest on his hands, "So was the trip a rough one?"

"You have no idea," Giroro answered, taking a sip of water cautiously from a glass and taking the opportunity to take in the table spread and the surroundings. Some sort of music was playing in the background... Enka, he was sure Pekoponians referred to it. Slower music, usually played in bars or in old smoky hangouts. Characteristically uncool for Kururu, Giroro noted.

The table was spread and was actually quite nice... A candle in the middle, a pitcher with some sort of liquid, possibly tea... Giroro wasn't too certain. He was on high alert, dealing with Kururu. It was the same Kururu who had turned him into an ogre, a dog, and subjected him to numerous other horrid experiments over the years.

"Kukuku, eat up, it took me all afternoon," Kururu insisted, moving a hand over to the tray-covered plate in front of Giroro.

Giroro looked this over suspiciously, and Kururu laughed, "I understand you not trusting me, I don't really have a reputation for my kindness, do I?"

"The exact opposite," Giroro grumbled, and went to remove the cover from the plate. He winced a bit as he noticed the sharpness of the metal handle, and looked down at his own hand, which had a small cut on it as a result.

"Do you need a bandage?" Kururu leaned forward a bit to inspect the wound.

"No," Giroro answered quickly, dabbing the wound with a napkin. "There's some blood on the lid..."

"What do I care, I have a machine to wash it," Kururu shrugged.  
"I'm not like Teicho, I don't take joy in chores."

Come to think of it, Giroro didn't have a clue what Kururu liked... Sure, there was curry, music, inventions, and tormenting... Kururu loved tormenting Giroro, for one reason or another...

"You've got your thinking face on, that's a new one," Kururu muttered, taking a bite of the curry on his plate.

Giroro looked down at his own plate; curry, of course it was curry. But after taking a reluctant bite, Giroro frowned in confusion, "Did you... Put sweet potatoes in this?"

"I'm a genius, you think I couldn't have incorporated a sweet potato into a meal?" Kururu snorted.

Dinner was mainly in silence, and by the end of it all Giroro was no less on edge.

"Kururu... What's the reason for all of this?" Giroro demanded, looking offward while the mad scientist gave a cackle followed by a sip of water from his glass.

"I suppose I was lonely," Giroro nearly fell out of his chair at an answer this symbol, and looked Kururu over critically. "Even I like a change of pace, Giroro-kun... Kuku... Now, if you don't mind, I need my beauty sleep. I've been up three days straight, any longer and I could become irritable."

Giroro nodded this and slipped out of his seat and then, "I suppose then... Thank you."

The scientist said nothing, only stood from his own chair and walked off, leaving Giroro to wander back to his own tent, puzzled. He then eyed the tray lid, the one Giroro had cut his hand on, and lifted it up, giving a menacing grin and a loud, long cackle.

Little was seen of Kururu in the following weeks, much less than usual. When he was seen, it was usually sleeping in his chair or a hammock in his lab. Not only that, packages had begun to arrive for him in the mail, several at a time for days straight. They were unmarked, and Giroro was unfamiliar with the sender.

So life went on as usual. Three more plans sounded like a good idea, all to only fail horribly, each worse that the other. By the third failure, Giroro found himself in need of a splint, but fresh out of bandages. The house was also clean out; as much damage as Natsumi inflicted on all of them, especially Keroro, this was no surprise.

"That lunatic probably has some," Giroro muttered, looking down at his sore arm. Who knew that Pekoponian dolphins could put up so much of a fight?

It was his first trip to Kururu's by himself since the bizarre date all those weeks ago... It was no less eerie traveling there by himself, and he was irked as he found Kururu not in his usual seat.

He was about to turn to leave when he became aware of a wailing. Giroro was quick to snap into soldier mode and followed the cries, gun in hand. He didn't realize the blue streak following close behind him.

"Kururu?" Giroro slid into the room, the pinpointed source of the wailing, and stopped dead. His blood chilled, and the room swayed a bit as he looked about the decorations; all of the pastel pinks, blues, and yellows. Decorations on the walls of adorable Pekoponian creatures, such as ducks, puppies, and kittens... A window in the middle of one wall, which was clearly screen that projected the view outside of one of the Hinatas' own windows, a crib beneath it with a matching mobile swaying dully around.

The floor was pink carpeted, and the rest of the room had white furniture, including a rocker, which Kururu himself sat in, holding a pink bundle. He was singing a song about a love for curry to the bundle.

"Giroro...kun?" Dororo stopped short, also becoming frozen in place as he came upon the sight. "Kururu-dono?"

"Kururu... W-what is all this?" Giroro demanded, taking a few steps into the room.

"Kukuku... Not so loud, you'll wake her up again. I had a mistake in the lab..."

"That... That's one large mistake. A Keronian infant?" Giroro looked down at the light red, almost salmon-colored infant. She was now sleeping, a binky in her mouth and a purple skullcap on her head, with light pink earmuffs. "Who... Who's is she?"

"Kukuku... She's a Keron super-soldier, a combination of brains and brawns, my best work to date. At least I hope so, with the effort it took."

"Y-You're her father?" Giroro sputtered. For once, Dororo didn't mind going unnoticed, as he watched from the doorway.

"If we want to be technical, I'm more of her mother, kuuukuku," Kururu apparently got a bit of amusement from this fact.

"T-then who's the father?" Giroro questioned.

"The number one sharpshooter on Keron, kuku," Kururu answered with a quiet chuckle, looking dead ahead at Giroro as he spoke.

"..." the pastel room spun, and within moments, Giroro was on the floor of it.

Went in a different direction than you thought, neh? Well, I ought to have chapter two ready soon, after another quick read through, and hopefully I can keep my creative steam going to finish this up.


	2. Chapter 2

Because I have absolutely no patience, chapter two. Personally I like this a great deal more than chapter one; you get a little more of exactly what's going on, hehe.

He came to on the Hinatas' living room couch, and nearly jumped to the ceiling as he woke to Natsumi reviving holding a warm towel to his head.

"Gero, how nice of you to finally join us, Giroro Gocho!" Keroro said with a grin. Oh, how Giroro's head was pounding. Oh, how he wanted to wipe that smack clear off of Keroro's face and laugh about it.

Giroro sat up, secretly fortunate to at least be rid of the nightmare. Then the familiar wailing made him realize that it indeed was not a dream. There was Kururu, holding the same bundle, while Tamama looked on curiously and Mois smiled at the infant.

"Could you say, a little angel?" Mois grinned.

"Kuku, don't touch her," Kururu replied curtly as Mois went to take the infant's hand.

"Gero... So what is that, exactly, Kururu Socho? A type of robot spy?" Keroro grinned as he turned his attention to the Sergeant Major.

"Kukuku, no, Teicho, a real infant," Kururu answered.

"Oh, I-GEROOO!" Keroro yelped. The little girl only cried louder.

"Idiot! Keep the noise down!" Giroro took a schoolbook from the coffee table and threw it at Keroro's head. Direct hit.

"Socho, when did you get a girlfriend? And how could she be so mean!" Tamama gasped as he looked into the blue eyes of the little Keron infant. He was sizing her up, in reality. He had to know how big of a potential threat she could pose to him.

"Kukuku, no girlfriend, she's mine and..."

"Giroro, why'd you faint, anyway?" Natsumi asked as she took a seat beside him and tilted his head down to get a good look at the bruise.

"Because..." Giroro shut his eyes. How could he even start to explain it to her?

"Because it's his as well, kukuku," Kururu answered.

There was a collective "WHAT?" yelled throughout the living room, and the baby cried louder.

"Could you say, a surprisingly cute baby?" Mois said aloud, holding a hand to her face as she did so.

"But how...?" Fuyuki blinked, looked at the baby, then to Giroro. "Is that how it works?"

"Kuku, not usually," Kururu chuckled a bit maniacally. "Don't worry, it'll be explained to you when you're older."

"Giroro?" Natsumi saw where the corporal's face had flushed a deep shade of red. "How did you and Kururu..."

"...It's a complicated process, not something you'd like to hear, kuku," Kururu laughed. "Do you want to hold her?"

"What?" Giroro snapped. But before he could protest, Kururu placed the small bundle on his lap. The blanket pulled away, revealing the mark on the little Keronian's belly; a full circle, half red and half yellow in a yin yang shape, with the red on top. She wore a diaper, and had a tadpole tail, like any other normal baby. But she wasn't a normal baby.

"I need to have a talk with you," Giroro said sternly, his eyes narrowing as he looked upward at Kururu. "...Alone."

"Kukuku... It was expected. She needs a nap, anyway," Kururu answered, took the infant, and headed back to his lab.

"Gero... The room's still spinning..." Keroro muttered from his spot on the floor. "...What lovely birds..."

"Nee-chan, do you really think Kururu's telling the truth?" Fuyuki asked aloud.

"...Hard to tell," Natsumi admitted. "But why would Kururu even do something like this?"

Giroro watched silently as the infant was placed back in her crib and Kururu hit the mobile ever so slightly, causing it to spin around while she giggled happily.

"I didn't intend for this to happen," Kururu admitted. "There were a few oversights."

"What the hell did you put in that curry to make... THAT... Happen?" Giroro asked, pointing to the baby.

"I collected your DNA," Kururu answered with a shrug. "Combined it, and, kukuku... The result."

"Couldn't you have just gotten it some other way instead of submitting me to the date from hell?"

"Kuku, maybe I wanted to make sure you were the person I'd share my genetic makeup with. It's a very personal thing for someone like me to share."

"I'm so glad I had a say in this!" Giroro shouted, his voice falling to a whisper halfway as he remembered the baby in the room.

"Kukuku, well, like I said, not everything went to plan. I thought I'd run enough tests to know the outcome and I was almost convinced I could make her and then use the "do it all over again" gun to age her, and have a super-solider worthy of invading Pekopon."

"What went wrong?" Giroro asked, truly curious about this.

"Kukuku, as she is now, her older self is neither a super genius or superb fighter. In fact, she's depressingly average in everything," Kururu nearly outwardly flinched as he spoke this. "...I thought I'd tweaked everything just right too."

"Idiot, shows you can't go playing God like that," Giroro snorted and folded his arms. "Serves you right for messing with my DNA anyhow... So, what do we do with her? I know you, you could've swept this under the rug and never had told me."

"You really think I'd resort to child murdering? Kuku! Honestly, the thought crossed my mind, but it's hard even for someone as heartless as me when you have your own eyes staring back at you."

"...So you're not totally heartless afterall. Heh."

"Tch. Don't mistake it as emotion, Senpai."

"...A name would be a good place to start," Giroro said after a bit of thought. "Noriri?"

"Kuku, nori?" Kururu chuckled.

"Meh? Eh, maybe not, then... Kirere."

"I can live with that," Kururu shrugged indifferently. "Funny, I would have figured you'd relate it to that Pekoponian girl... Kukuku, you know, some girls like a man who's good with children."

Giroro said nothing to this, but grit his teeth. This had set him back miles from Natsumi, he knew it... At the same time, sharing babysitting with her... Maybe there was a positive to come out of this, afterall.

"Gero gero ge! So it's true, then!" came a familiar laugh from outside the door. It wasn't long after Keroro entered, followed by Tamama and Dororo. No one paid much mind to Dororo. "And she's so cute, too! Her eyes look a little like Pururu-chan's..."

"What do you want, you grinning idiot?" Giroro snapped. "And don't touch her."

"Gero? Giroro Gocho, what're you so grumpy about!" Keroro was now bending over the crib on his tip-toes to get a good look at the baby. "She's so cute! And her godfather will get her started early on learning about fine culture! Like Gunpla, for instance."

"Moron, what makes you think we'd make you the Godfather?" Giroro snorted.

"Oh, could she also have a Godmother, then?" Mois ducked into the room just about as Tamama went to speak, and the black tadpole grit his teeth.

"...Stupid... Woman...!" his mind screeched as his panting became heavy and he clenched his fists.

"Wha... What about me?" Dororo sniffed, but this went unnoticed.

"I say we throw the newest member of our platoon a welcoming party!" Keroro suggested. "The first Keronian born on Pekopon! It's a big step on the long road to victory, Gentlemen!"

"...You're thinking this is going to look good enough for your raise, don't you?" Giroro asked plainly. Keroro said nothing to this, but kept his victorious stance.

"We better get those invitations out quickly!" Giroro's words had either gone unnoticed or ignored by Keroro; more than likely, ignored. "Come on, Tamama nitohei, you can be on envelopes! I'll write on the invitations, and Mois-dono can take care of the decorations!"

Dororo sniffed as he trudged out of the room.

"...I feel bad for her," Giroro admitted after watching the door close behind the manic ninja. He then turned his attention back to the crib, and looked in on the sleeping tadpole. She was surprisingly adorable, given her creepy "mother" and gruff "father".

"Kuku, your heart melt, Senpai?"

"Heh," Giroro muttered. "I'm going to stay in here a bit."

"I have a nap to take anyway, kukuku," Kururu admitted, followed by a yawn. "Cutting and pasting genetic code takes it out of a guy."

Giroro gave a nod and continued to look down in the crib even after Kururu had left. Kirere was sleeping once more; she had two modes, it seemed, scream and sleep. She wasn't that different from Keroro, really.

"I thought I'd find you here! Oh!" Natsumi's voice fell to a whisper as she entered the room. "Is she sleeping again?"

Giroro gave a nod, "The stress was a lot for her, I suppose."

"Giroro, what are you guys going to do with her?"

"Train her for her mission, of course," Giroro folded his arms and turned his back to the crib. "She can be trained to be the super-soldier, and help with the invasion of Pekopon. At this rate our mission will be complete in months. Hehehe, I hate to say it, but Kururu might have actually hit a goldmine with this idea."

"What if it's not what she wants?" Natsumi looked away from the baby to Giroro.

"Eh? There couldn't be a higher honor!"

"She's not a machine, you can't make her into something like that if she doesn't want to," it was apparent Natsumi was becoming a bit annoyed by this. "Isn't there something you always wanted to be?"

"...A man who carries out his missions, that's the only life for a man like me" Giroro answered as haughty as possible as he said this.

"...You're hopeless," Natsumi shook her head and walked toward the door. "I don't know how much help I can be, but if you need anything..."

"I can handle an infant, I've been in life or death situations, this will be a cakewalk in comparison!"

"But it's a half-Kururu baby," Natsumi added with a sigh of worry.

"Hehe... EH!" Giroro's blood ran cold at the memory of baby Kururu. The little monster, the devil spawn who had made that day a living hell for everyone. He then, shaking, looked back in at the sweet face in the crib. There was no way she could be another potential Kururu... Right?


	3. Chapter 3

Edit: Okay, here's the third one! I've been listening to a lot of feedback, and thanks again for it ^_^ I'm going to keep trying my best here, please enjoy!

Chapter 3:

"Kuku, I need the lab to myself for a bit," Kururu came out to Giroro's tent for a rare visit the following morning, Kirere wrapped in her pink blanket and sucking on her binky. On Kururu's one shoulder was a pink and white bag, the other the infant patted, until reaching up and taking hold of one of Kururu's headphones. She pulled it back, and then let go, allowing it to snap into place. The normally stoic scientist reeled back in pain from this.

Giroro took the girl from his hands and tried to hold back the laughter that welled up inside him at the sight of this, and then took the bag and set it on the ground. "What could you possibly-... Are you done being in pain now?"

"Neh," Kururu rubbed over the headphone and grumbled a bit to himself. "Too dangerous for this one."

"You're saying you care?"

"Kuku, well, I did put a lot of time into the project," Kururu admitted, now clearly back to his normal cool self.

"What do I... Do here...?" Giroro held out the baby, who laughed and squirmed in response to this.

"Amuse her," Kururu answered, turning to head back to his lab. "Try not to break anything on her. I'll be back later than you think."

"W-wait, Kururu!" but the yellow Keronian was already gone, leaving Giroro alone with the cooing baby. "Um..." He held her closer to himself and ducked into his tent, looking about for anything that would've been a good potential toy...

Grenades, guns, daggers; He really did own a lot of things that were dangerous for a baby... In fact, if there had been broken glass lining the floor, it would have been the last place to keep a baby.

"...L-let's take you out for a bit," Giroro was shaken after having a series of horrifying scenarios run through his mind. "Now where could we take you?..."

"How CUTE!" Koyuki squealed and clapped her hands together as she looked back down at the baby, who laid out on a mat and kicked about happily.

"I'm happy you thought of this as a safe place, Giroro-dono," Dororo sat on the steps of the home beside Giroro, both drinking tea and the red Keronian looking more than a little preoccupied with his own thoughts. "...Know that I have your back in this situation, no matter what."

"...I'm not even sure if Kururu's telling the truth. I can see where she's mine as well, but he's a trickster by profession, practically," Giroro muttered, bowing his head down. "You're all being incredibly cool about this."

Dororo gave a small laugh, "As much as we've been through, I suppose the unusual is commonplace here."

"...That lunatic's divided me into seven different people, made me someone's hand, a dog, and a slew of inanimate objects... But this is the worst of it. This is either an overly elaborate joke, or he's really done it this time."

"...Giroro-san, I think she needs a diaper change!" Koyuki called, noting the infant had suddenly begun to wail. Giroro's mind crashed back to attention, and he opened his eyes, and looked to Dororo. The blue ninja was nowhere to be found, but his half-empty cup of tea lay on the step, still steaming.

"Ehhh..." Giroro stood and walked over to Kirere, then looked her over as though he was assessing how to dismantle a bomb.

Koyuki gave a good-humored laugh as she noticed his predicament. "Nin!" with a flash, the diaper bag was opened, and the diaper changed.

"I... How did you...?"

"A secret ninja technique!" Koyuki winked and laughed.

Giroro's shoulders slumped, "I should have known. But thank you, all the same."

"I'll go throw away the garbage," Koyuki stated, and before Giroro could thank her she was gone, and Dororo stood there, teary-eyed and repentant.

"I failed you..." he sighed with defeat, bowing his head.

"It's all right, it's not your responsibility, anyway," Giroro took a seat on the floor behind Kirere, and pulled out a plastic toy from the bag to dangle above her. It really wasn't much different from playing with his cat, he noted. "...I'm still getting used to a lot of this."

Dororo knelt down in front of the baby and laughed, "You get used to it. Children are one of nature's most valuable resources, no matter what planet, who or they come from!"

"You're not the one who has to change diapers, or looks and sees Kururu in there, too, when you look down at her."

"Well, maybe she inherited some of Socho's better qualities!"

Then both looked upward, Giroro's expression wondering 'what qualities?'.

"He's a very focused person, and doesn't let stress get to him easily!" Dororo suggested, even though her knew this was weak at best.

"He's selfish, arrogant, and mean-spirited," Giroro returned with a snap. "He's pure evil, he can't even stand anything relatively happy if it doesn't involve someone else being miserable."

"For being all of those things he certainly was able to decorate a nice nursery..."

"He probably bought a few magazines and got ideas that way," Giroro countered quickly. "...He made this mess."

"And you're going to support him, that's a noble spirit."

"Her, whether she's mine or not. She's here now, and I don't abandon my men. If Kururu's lying, and this is a cousin of his or something, then he's a dead man. If he's telling the truth, then... We'll continue with the plan," Giroro replied, and lifted her up. "I'm going to take her home for a nap, if that creep doesn't like it then he'll have to deal, he's cause of all of this mess, anyway."

"Best of luck, Giroro-kun. If you need me, you know where I'll be."

"Unless I need a diaper changed," Giroro quickly concluded.

"I'm ashamed that I agree," Dororo answered with the same happy expression unwavering upon what could be seen of his face.

Giroro huffed and was off back towards home, just as Koyuki returned, "Aw, he left with the Kirere-chan already?"

"Mm, she was getting tired... And I believe emotional exhaustion is starting to set in on him."

"Dororo! We should start right away on a gift to celebrate her birth!" Koyuki clenched her fist in determination, and Dororo stood and gave a nod.

"Yes, let's start!"

"...It better be good if he left me alone with you for the day," Giroro muttered to the baby as they returned home and he found the sun was getting ready to set. "...He's not lying, is he?... Damn it all... I'll get you a better mother, I promise. I have one in mind, a strong Pekoponian woman," Giroro stopped; Natsumi, a mother. The thought of her acting maternal made his face flush and his head begin to spin. He was only brought back to attention but Kirere, who started to squeal happily at the sight of Kururu.

"Kuku, she recognizes her mother already! Precious."

"Quit calling yourself that!" Giroro was pulled out of his daydream by Kururu's grating voice. "It's creepy to me and confusing to her, and the only reason I haven't killed you for it yet is because you're the one who knows the most about this mess!"

"Kuku, you shouldn't speak like that in front of the baby, it's bad enough her parents are unmarried!" Kururu continued, much to Giroro's horror.

"UGH!" Giroro cringed in horror, and it took him a few moments to recover from this. "...It's time for her to eat... As her mother I think you should get on that."

"Kukuku! Well, I did get my nap in..." Kururu gave a shrug at this and began to search through the shelves.

"That was you important work, a nap!"

"You want me to work with dangerous machinery and chemicals half-asleep, Senpai?"

"Gero! What an adorable scene of serene Keronian life on Pekopon! An invader could get used to this!" Keroro grinned as he entered the baby's room. "I just wanted to let you know that the invitations have already been sent out, and we've already gotten a few replies!"

"From who?" Giroro felt compelled to ask; the idiot couldn't think of one decent invasion strategy, but if it was a party, he'd be the first one getting the decorations together.

"Let's see... " at this point Keroro retrieved a clipboard from seemingly nowhere, and read over the names. "Fuyuki-dono, Natsumi-dono, and Mama-dono, myself, Mois-Dono, Tamama and Momoka-dono, Dororo and Koyuki-dono, Saburo-dono, and Kogoro-dono and his sister. Gero, wait, Kogoro-dono?" Keroro flipped over his list again. "When did that happen?"

"Why are we celebrating this when we don't even know if she's really some sort of "project"?"

"Kuku, so you think I went back to Keron and kidnapped and infant, all for my own amusement?" Kururu laughed, although this wasn't exactly a laugh of amusement.

"I wouldn't hold it against you, is what I'm saying," Giroro grumbled darkly.

"Kuku, you have a hard time accepting anything of mine for face value, don't you? That or you're too dense to wrap your brain around it, ku ku ku."

"Honestly I don't know if you even have the ability to do something like that," Giroro snapped. Kururu's expression changed, and Keroro felt a heavy darkness fall upon the jolly room.

"I... I'll go see what plates Tamama Nitohei picked out for the party," Keroro said with a grin, and then backed his way out of the room.

"Ku... Ku ku... You're doubting my intelligence then," Kururu said as more of a fact than a question to Giroro.

"You're the one who admitted you screwed up, here, not me."

"Ku ku kuuu..."

"Keroro... Take Kirere for a walk."

"Eh?" Keroro looked back at the two... What a thick air they were all now in... Giroro had said lots in the way of curses to Kururu, but a straight-out question of the Sergeant Major's intelligence...

"It's really not good weather out," Keroro answered, but the glare which Giroro gave, the chilling one, had Keroro heading over to the baby. "We'll go review some plans together."

"...I think they're serious this time," Keroro gave a bit of a shiver as he left them in the room. Giroro's yelling was getting louder, Kururu's laugh was ever the same. "...They're just relieving some stress, I'm sure!" as he got further from Kururu's lab, he began to hear pounding noises. "...Lotta stress."

An hour later, no one had returned from the lab. Well, no one had come to Keroro.

"Are they still going at it?" Tamama flipped a page of his comic book and took a sip from his juice box.

"Probably Giroro Gocho, at least. Knowing Socho he's just laughing... They haven't gone at it this long before, though," Keroro answered without looking up from the left armpiece of one of his weekly Gunpla models.

"Do we have to keep watching her? It's so boring!" Tamama muttered, looking over to Kirere, who crawled around Keroro's work area.

"Now, now, Kirere-chan has to learn early about Pekoponian culture, so it'll be easier to infiltrate," Keroro answered sagely.

"But she doesn't do anything!" Tamama muttered, and went back to his comic book. "...So boring."

"Hrm, now where'd that file go?" Keroro muttered, drowning out everything around him aside from the task at hand, the missing file.

Tamama was still blissfully reading his comic book when he became aware of an odd smell, a chemical-like odor, filling the room. He then looked up, and his eyes went wide, "Gunso-san!"

"Yes! Found it, gero gero gero!"

"GUNSO-SAN!" Tamama shouted. "She did something!"

"Yes, Tamama Ni-Gerrrrroooooooo!" the yell Keroro gave was one of the loudest he'd given in a while.

The Sergeant was panting by the time he reached Kururu's lab; the scientist was in his chair, eating curry, Giroro was on the floor, having long been there after yelling himself into exhaustion.

"I didn't mean it, I-I just looked away for a second, and, and..."

"Kuku, what're you going on about?"

"K-Kirere-chan, she must've mistaken s-some paint as candy, and-!"

"Eh?" Kururu hopped out of his chair, still holding the plate.

"What?" Giroro shouted, sitting up on the ground. "She ate paint?"

"...gerooo..." Keroro looked quite grim.

Giroro made sure to include delivering a blow to the back of Keroro's head as he passed, and headed out of Kururu's lab with the scientist behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Okay, I like to think I'm getting a *little* more footing for this at this point, lol. :) I definitely feel a bit more at ease writing this chapter, that's for sure. Thanks again for the feedback, and please enjoy.

"Yes, Mama, she seems to be feeling better already," Natsumi answered, hanging up the phone and looking back on the couch to Giroro, who sat with his hands clasped, looking straight ahead. She took a seat next to him, and smiled a bit, "...You look worried."

"I can't imagine having to explain that to headquarters if it'd turned out for the worst," Giroro muttered.

"At least Dororo was able to get over here quick... Say, where's Stupid Frog?"

Thunder sounded, and Giroro didn't even look away from the wall he was concentrating on, "The roof."

"Hrm. Good place for him. Remind him it' his night for dishes," Natsumi stood and stretched, and laughed a bit. "You can relax, Giroro. She'll be fine."

"Kuku, she's back to resting now..."

"...Babies are so gross," Tamama walked out next to Kururu, his eyes wide and his face sick-looking.

Giroro stood and walked over to the two, then Dororo joined them, "She'll be back to normal in no time, it was all a matter of making sure it got out of her system before it became deadly. Nothing an herbal remedy couldn't take care of," explained the ninja.

"Thank you again, Dororo," Giroro nodded.

"Well, I learned after-!" Dororo's smile faded, and his traumatized, glazed-over look materialized. "...Keroro-kun... We were having lunch, and he told me it was chocolate milk he wanted to trade for my juice, but it was only regular milk, and he'd just put paint in it... I was so sick afterward..."

Dororo retreated to the nearest corner, having activated his trauma switch, and there was another loud boom of thunder. The lights flickered this time.

"Kuku, sounds like it's getting closer."

"Good," Giroro muttered, heading toward the base. He still had his gun with him, from his showdown with Keroro while he waited for Dororo, and carried it at his side as he entered the nursery and looked into the crib. He looked downward; Kirere was now asleep again.

"...I'll wait here until you wake up," he took a seat on the ground, leaning against the crib and polishing his gun.

"Kuku, figured you would be here... Pekopon's made you so soft."

"Quit stalking me, Kururu. I had my piece with you," Giroro muttered, concentrating upon his gun.

"Just thought you'd like a little reading, ku ku ku," Kururu answered, revealing a folder in his right hand.

"What's this?" Giroro leaned forward and took the folder.

"Kuku, proving this isn't a trick," Kururu answered. "My curry's getting cold. Excuse me."

"Kururu, you really...? That's really...?"

"Ku ku! Unless it's involving a bend in the time-continuum, don't tell me I'm not capable. It wouldn't be good for you," then the scientist was gone from the room.

Giroro flipped through the file, having been finally left alone; he didn't understand most of it, but he got the gist of it.

"And this is a medium range firearm," Giroro explained, and held it up.  
You look out of the scope here, and lock in on your target this way."

"Meow..." Neko looked a bit worried as she watched this exchange, which took place the day after the scare Kirere had caused. It was a sunny day, and the char marks Keroro had made on the roof were still a fine crispy black. It smelt like they had had a barbecue.

"Ah, this is a personal favorite," Giroro opened a case and pulled out a large rifle, and Kirere sat there, as intent as a baby could. "At full power, this could blow a hole the size of the largest crater on Keron's moon."

While bending over to retrieve another weapon he had laid out on the mat, Kirere leaned and gripped onto his belt, "Hrm? This? It's a long story, but-"

"Stupid frog, can't do his chores, you'd think it was the first time he'd been struck by lightning," Natsumi grumbled as she stepped out, her arms full with a hefty laundry basket. "Giroro!"

"N-Natsumi!" he came to attention and sat back on the mat. Kirere laughed.

"What're you doing!"

"...Well, she has to learn early," Giroro looked downward as he spoke. "It's part of her training."

"Why're you being so nurturing all of a sudden?"

"Well... If no one else is capable enough, I suppose I have to take over as best I can. It's better than Keroro or any of those other lunatics being left with her," Giroro folded his arms and closed his eyes, doing his best to keep a cool looking going.

"What're you doing out here with all of this, anyway?" she bent down next to him, causing a small blush to come across Giroro's cheeks.

"W-well, just some of the basic weapons and their uses. We're training her as our secret weapon, she has to learn early," he was too flustered to notice exactly what Kirere had grabbed ahold now. He was only blown back along with Natsumi from a sudden blast, Natsumi landing on top of him and the sheets flying everywhere.

Fuyuki looked out from the large fresh hole, which was made inches from where he had been standing, looking for a book he'd misplaced. He was clearly shaken, and looked out, wide-eyed.

Natsumi stood up and looked about at the mess. Giroro, too, recovered after a moment, and sat up, his head still spinning. Kirere sat there and laughed, and Natsumi glared down at him, having gone into demon mode.

"Giroro Goucho, how nice of you to take over laundry duty in my absence!" Keroro smiled as he hobbled in on a set of crutches, still pretty banged up from the day before, and saw Giroro glaring at the washer/dryer, his arms folded.

"Hrm, I wanted to ask when did we put in a new window, and one so... Conspicuous?"Keroro asked, Giroro still didn't answer. "I just wanted to throw out another apology... Gero, no hard feelings, I hope."

"Keroro... Another word and I'll have you in here just in time for the spin cycle," Giroro hissed through grit teeth.

"Hehe... Goucho has such a weird sense of humor sometimes," Keroro shook his head and hobbled off toward the kitchen.

"Mm, all right, Mama," Natsumi was leaning against the counter and on the phone. "We will... Don't worry, I won't. Bye, Mama."

"Another late night? Well, don't mind me, I'm just getting a snack," Keroro grinned good-humoredly and headed to the fridge.

"Not so fast. We need the wall fixed," Natsumi announced as he reached the fridge. Keroro hung his head and sighed.

"Kururu Soucho needs to invent an effective brainwashing gun," Keroro sighed as he went off to his task.

"Ku ku...I have, it's out of my hands as to how he uses them," Kururu muttered from his lab, a handpuppet on one hand and Kirere on his lap. She grabbed onto his glasses, but he quickly took these back and pushed them up. "Kuku, no, no, I have an image to keep up here."

Kirere then shifted her attention back to the green Keroro handpuppet, while Kururu resumed work as usual.

"Hrm?" his attention turned to a screen on the far right. "What's that...?"

"You overloaded it!" came a shout from the speaker under another screen. The washer was spewing out soap and water all over the room; it wouldn't take long for the entire room to flood at the rate it was going.

"I-I did no such thing!"

"You can clean this up, too!"

"What? Do I look like Keroro!"

"Kuku," Kururu got a small chuckle from this, then looked back to the screen he had originally been focused on. Whatever blip there was before was gone. "Eh?"

"What smells like bleach?" Tamama sniffed the air as he headed down to the debriefing room beside Giroro. Giroro only grit his teeth and remained in his perpetually pissed-off mode.

"All right, so it's the pastel pink plates!" Keroro's meeting had revolved around party plans for the first twenty minutes, and only came to a halt when Giroro finally snapped.

"How does this have ANYTHING to do with our mission?" demanded the red alien. "Stick to the topic!"

"Gero... Very well, then," Keroro was a bit crestfallen at being interrupted, but it was nothing to be unexpected from Giroro. "Moving on, our next invasion strategy... Operation Get 'um While they're Young!"

"Eh?" Giroro blinked as the lights dimmed and the screen came on.

"Given our recent experience my plan is this. A Pekonponian Daycare. We mold the children's minds from a young age, given their impressionability, we ought to have an effective army in no time! Gero gero, recruiting little minds while in their prime..."

"Idiot! You had one kid with you for five minutes and you nearly killed her!" Giroro snapped.

"It was so gross..." Tamama recalled, his eyes going wide once more.

"...Kukuku, you could always try out our new weapon."

"What?" Giroro snapped.

"Kuku, it's still in it... Infancy stages, Teicho, but I think now would be a good time to test out her potential."

"The more field experience, the better!" Keroro grinned. "Pekopon will be a mere training ground for her! And once it falls to its knees and bows to us, who knows what next? All of the Gunpla factories in the world, ours, gero gero."

Giroro obviously was wary of this, but, it was for the invasion...

Giroro stood, "I need to be excused."

"That's fine. Meeting adjourned for now, I'll see everyone back here in the morning!"

Dororo looked from the hidden spot he had been lurking in, and replaced the tile only after feeling the bite of dejection once again upon being forgotten.

"Kuku, you have a big day, then," Kururu said to the baby, lifting her up and heading back to her nursery.

"She better not get sick again," Tamama muttered hoarsely.

Giroro returned to his tent after the meeting, skipping out on dinner and baking himself a sweet potato instead. The hole in wall had been repaired, and his weapons put back away.

"Hrm?" he looked upward to the few stars he could see in the sky of the brightly lit Tokyo, and noted one falling one. Pekoponians sometimes wished on these, he heard. Another one of their stupid superstitions.


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning, they all agreed to meet in Tamama's training area in the Nishizawa mansion, Kururu bringing along both the aging gun and the super soldier, who was focused intently upon a rubber ball Kururu had brought to keep her entertained. It was something to keep her away from his earphones, which she had taken a liking to pulling back and watching him recoil in pain.

"All right, Kururu Socho, let's make sure this sleeper cell does more than just sleep!" Keroro said cheerfully.

"And puke," Tamama muttered.

'I've got a bad feeling about this," Giroro thought to himself as he, too stood there, along with Tamama, Kururu, and Dororo. 'The last time we tried to make a super soldier... Natsumi...'

Kururu set down the baby and then stood back, taking out the gun and taking aim.

Giroro didn't look at first, but then felt compelled after hearing nothing but dead silence in the room.

"She's so..." Tamama began.

"Kururu Soucho, she's a little short, even by our standards," Keroro laughed and pointed down to the child, who now stood up to his shoulders.

"That's the oldest I can make her safely for now, until I make another model of the gun. Kuku, her genetic structure's not exactly the same as ours, some corners had to be clipped, kukukuu!" Kururu explained, putting the gun to his side. "If you want to be technical, Teicho, she's about eleven."

"That's the oldest you can make her?" Keroro's voice fell as he continued to point to the bewildered child.

"Kuku, well, I told you there were a few bugs!"

"Yes, but..."

She was too cute, Tamama glared. She could pose a potential problem to group dynamic.

"Eh? What happened? Why's everything so much smaller again?" she blinked and looked about at the group. She looked similar to a young Pururu, save for the coloring, and the purple earmuffs had been replaced by headphones. On her one wrist there was a black band, with a silver buckle in the middle.

"Okaaaayyyyy so, slight change of plans," Keroro clasped his hands together and grinned. "Kirere-chan, why don't you show us what you can do?"

"Do?" she blinked, and Keroro pushed her over to a dummy, and placed a gun in her hand.

Keroro took a few steps back and placed his hands behind his back, and waited. Kirere looked at the gun and studied it, then took fire. The dummy had been missed totally, and there was another hole in yet another wall.

"Gero?" Keroro pushed her forward a few more feet. Another miss, another hole.

Five more feet. She knicked the dummy this time.

She finally managed a hit from five feet. There was a general feeling of doom spread out about the room.

"...Well, shooting's not for everyone!" Keroro answered with a grin, although the happy one was replaced by a much, much more nervous one. "Maybe you'd fare better with a blade."

"Kuku, I wouldn't try that," Kururu chuckled. "I almost lost my head, last time."

"...Intelligence could be the way to go!" Keroro answered cheerfully, revealing a paper test and #2 pencil. "Have at it, Kirere-chan!"

"Okay," she looked down at it as she took it from Keroro's hands and looked it over.

"...Gunso-san, she stinks," Tamama said flatly after she was out of earshot and the five stood around in a circle, waiting for her to finish.

"Now, now, Tamama Nitohei, let's give her a benefit of a doubt," Keroro said hopefully. "She could just have her own niche! Like your advanced fighting abilities, Kururu Soucho's supreme intelligence, Giroro Goucho's vast expertise in weaponry, and my steady and unfaltering leadership abilities!"

"Um, K-Keroro-kun?" Dororo sputtered.

"Leadership abilities? That's what you think you bring to the table?" Giroro snorted. Kururu gave a chuckle.

"Here, done," Kirere passed the paper to Kururu, who adjusted his glasses and scanned it over. Question twelve had told her to find the "x" on the triangle, and she had indeed circled the "x". The rest of the answers weren't much better.

"...Gero," Keroro murmured. The cloud of dread was apparent in the room, "We... We should call it a day." Tamama, nodded, Dororo cleared his throat and looked away, Kururu gave a chuckle, and Giroro... Just kept looking at the young girl. She looked a great deal like him at that age, aside from the eyes.

"Ku ku, back you go, then," Kururu went to hold up the gun to Kirere, but found it wasn't at his side, as it had been before. "Eh?... Well, I guess you're stuck like that for now, then. Any alteration of your structure has to be changed back manually, kuku."

Kirere looked more relieved than anything, Giroro noted, and she watched as Tamama, Keroro, and Kururu left the training area.

"This sucks..." Tamama muttered.

"I'm reallyyyy in a hole, aren't I?" Keroro laughed, a heavy gloom cloud still over him.

"Kuku, perhaps I'd have been better off focusing on some of my other weapons..." Kururu added beneath his breath.

"Giroro-kun, did you want me to try to get through to her?" Dororo suggested quietly, seeing as the child was close to tears and shaking.

She rushed past them, nearly knocking down Giroro, and hurried out of the training room.

"W-wait, where do you think you're going?" Giroro called out, then balled his fists. "She's going to get killed or get us found out! Dororo!"

Dororo gave a nod and was gone from sight. Giroro went to go catch up with the other three.

"Those three... Time for them to learn a lesson themselves."

It took a bit of searching, but Dororo finally found the orange-pink Keron child up in a tree outside of the Nishizawa property. "Kirere-chan?"

"Who're you?" she sniffed and turned to him. Dororo jerked back at this, and had to remind himself that she was indeed still just a child.

"D-Dororo Heicho. A member of the platoon," he answered.

"I don't remember you being there..."

"...W-well, I was... I'm not going to hurt you; your father wanted me to find you. You could've been in a lot of danger!"

"I don't even know what's going on," she answered, wiping her eyes. "One minute I was small, and next..."

"You're supposed to be another fighter in Teicho's platoon," Dororo took a seat on the branch next to her. "Kururu-dono thought you'd be some sort of super fighter, from what I can tell. I got left out of a lot of the details."

"I'm not as good as they thought, right? I mean, that's what they meant when they said I sucked."

"Kirere-chan, you heard that?"

Kirere nodded, "Yeah, my hearing's pretty good..."

"Like Giroro-kun's, I see. You have to walk before you can run. It's a popular saying on Pekopon," Dororo answered. "There's probably a lot of potential in you, but no one wants to take the time to find it... A garden's much prettier if you give it time to grow, and not rush it."

"Is that another Pekopon saying?"

"That's a fact," he stood and looked down at her. "Do you want to go home, now? It's not safe for either of us to be off of the Nishizawa property when we can be seen."

"Please," she nodded, her crying having stopped by now. Dororo lifted her up, and she was fast asleep by the time Dororo returned to Giroro's tent.

"Is she...?" Giroro looked down at the child.

"She'll be fine, she's just upset," Dororo answered, his eyes showing a grin beneath his mask. "Where are the others?"

"That doesn't matter, thank you, Dororo," Giroro nodded and took the child from his friend's arms.

"Anytime. Now I have to get back, Koyuki-dono will be worried," Dororo stepped back out of the tent, and was gone from Giroro's sight in moments.

Giroro looked back down at Kirere, and laid her on the blanket after giving a sigh.

"Mew," Neko peered into the tent, and came closer to sniff the new person in the tent.  
Giroro looked to Kirere, then to the "do your life over" gun, which he had stashed among the rest of his arsenal. Kururu probably knew it was he who had stolen it, but said nothing for one reason or another. Those three wouldn't be talking for the rest of the night or day, at any rate.

He fell asleep sitting up, leading to stiff joints when he woke up in the morning. He gave a yell as he saw a pair of large blue eyes staring back at him.

"Sorry!" Kirere yelped, and jumped back. "I-I... You're Giroro, right? You're one of my parents? I think you are."

"W-well, yes," Giroro had now regained his bearings and shook his head a bit. Yes, this was really happening; this wasn't some kind of dream or nightmare.

"Where's my mother?"

"He's not your mother, and he's probably in a body cast after the lesson I gave him," Giroro answered. "...You're really here, aren't you? This isn't some delusion."

"I'm pretty sure," she blinked. "I remember taking some kinds of tests, then a lot of nothing, except maybe some yelling... And now I'm back here."

Giroro continued to look her over, only jerked out of his studying the young child by a growling in her stomach, "...We'll get you something to eat."

"Do you have anything spicy?" she asked intently.

"We'll find something, as long as it's not more paint," Giroro muttered, and stood.

Natsumi nearly dropped her glass of juice as she watched Giroro walk in, Kirere behind him, "W-what happened now?"

"Kururu," Giroro grumbled.

"Is that my mom?" Kirere pointed to Natsumi, nothing the similar color of her skin and Natsumi's hair.

Giroro's face went a deep shade of crimson, "N-no! She's not! A Pekoponian, are you serious! HA HA HA!"

"...Then why...?"

"Let's see, there's cereal, rice, bread..." Giroro had zoomed over to the shelves, and was reading out the labels of any food he could find.

"'Morning, Nee-chan. Hey, Kirere! She's all grown up!" Fuyuki gasped. "I had no ideas Keronians aged that quick!"

"Cereal's a good choice!" Giroro then tossed the box in Kirere's direction, only to have it hit her square on the head. The squeak she made as she hit the ground was adorable, but Giroro was too busy being horrified. There was a split second when he thought the box had done her in.

"Kirere?" he hopped down from the counter and ran over to her.

"Ow,"she sat up and rubbed her forehead. "I saw stars..."

"Are you sure she's all right, Goucho?" Fuyuki blinked, and watched as Giroro helped the young girl up.

"It's just a bump," Giroro answered nonchalantly.

"Guess I'm not good at catching, either," Kirere muttered.

"Fuyuki, we'll be late," Natsumi picked up her schoolbag and looked to her brother. "Giroro, are you going to be...?"

"We'll be fine," Giroro nodded.

"...Okay," Natsumi seemed a bit unsure but left with her brother all the same.

"Sorry I couldn't catch that," Kirere sighed once more.

"There's no use in apologies, it's happened," Giroro answered, and headed down to the base with her close behind.

"Ku ku, I wondered what happened to you," Kururu turned about in his chair, revealing two black eyes and an arm in a sling. Kirere immediately lit up at the sight of Kururu, and Giroro continued to stare down the scientist. "I think I might have actually been starting to worry, ku ku!"

"And yet you didn't come looking?" Giroro snapped.

"I didn't wake up until about three in the morning... On the floor, kukuku... Good to know you've still got your right hook, Senpai."

"And the left one, too,"Giroro muttered. "We're going to the shooting range."

"The shooting range?" Kirere asked.

"Kuku, good, I need some results," Kururu turned back about to his screens. "An organic-based weapon's no good if it can lose against a cereal box."

"Come on, Kirere," Giroro glared at the back of the chair, and then headed down to the shooting range with Kirere at his side. "We have to get to work."

"Work?" Kirere caught the pair of earphones Giroro tossed to her, and put these on, then stood back as he went to work on the shooting range. Perfect shots, every one.

"Now you try," Giroro stood back, and watched. "Try not to hit the wall this time."

"Huh?" she looked back at him, and her trigger finger pulled at the same time. The shot fired, but at the base of the target. It toppled over onto the ground. ."..Hey, I hit it!"

"...Y-yes, you did," Giroro couldn't crush the victorious grin. He just... Couldn't.

"Giroro Gocho!" Keroro hobbled with a small limp and with the support of a crutch, Mois not far behind him. "You seem in better spirits this morning!" Giroro raised the gun toward Keroro's head. "Or I could have called it wrong."

"Kirere-chan? Could you say, a rapid progression?" Mois blinked, looking down at the tiny Keronian.

"We're training here, Keroro," Giroro snapped. "So unless it's useful..."

"Gero, I just wanted to welcome Kirere-chan to the platoon,"Keroro answered innocently. This angelic smile was gone as soon as another shot was fired, this one bouncing off the wall and nearly shooting Giroro and Kirere. He managed to hit the ground with the young girl just in time, and the laser hit Keroro.

"...Ge...Gero," he coughed before hitting the ground.

"He's survived worse," Giroro answered as Kirere went to go check on Keroro.

"Ojii-sama?" Mois knelt down and shook her uncle.

"Are you sure he's..."

"He'll be fine, don't pity him, it only encourages him," Giroro answered in his usual blunt manner. "So you need work in shooting... We'll find something else you excel in."

After the day, it was found Kirere did not excel in swordsmanship, hacking, physical combat, harnessing her chi, medical arts, cooking... Even sewing had resulted in Giroro having to pull out the needle from Kirere's hand while she screamed.

Kirere trudged back to the lab by herself, having left Giroro at his tent. His disappointment was evident.

"Ku ku, no results, then?" she heard after attempting to slink into the lab as quietly as possible. There were blue sparks coming from Kururu's work area, and the yellow Keronian wore a welding mask. "Kuku, at least you were managing average before."

Kirere walked over to him, and Kururu lifted up the welding mask, to get a better look at what she was so interested in. She looked over the work table, and picked up a converter to study it.

"What's this do?"

"Kuku, you wouldn't understand it," Kururu answered with a snort, "Hrm?" he noted her continuing to fiddle with the parts. He waited to go back to welding together, and watched her begin to piece together the machine.

"...That was kind of fun," she admitted.

"Kuku, do you even realize what you just made?"

"No, but it looked like it went together... I mean, the pieces seemed to fit and all," she put the machine back down and looked up at Kururu.

"Kukuku..." the scientist gave an amused, if not a bit dark chuckle at this. "Looks like I have a little more work to do. You can sleep in the hammock for the time being."

His dark plotting came to a screeching halt as he felt a sudden warmth; at first, he wasn't sure what it was, but recoiled back as soon as he realized the young girl had wrapped her arms about his waist.

"Ugh! Hey, don't do that!" Kururu snapped, and backed away from her, then leaned against the table. "If you're looking for the mushy type, go to your other genetic donor! Just... Don't do that."

"A-all right," she nodded, still a bit confused at his reaction, or the fact he had even shown one.

Kururu was still panting, then shook his head and pulled the welding mask down over his face, "I don't know if I'll be able to handle another attack like that."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Well, here it is ^_^ Not much to say beyond that except that this was a fun one to write. Oi, about time to do the disclaimer, too -_-' All creative properties belong to their respective owners. There, done. Enjoy!

"After a good night's rest, I'm happy to report I have nearly fully healed, and only the psychological scars remain!" Keroro chirped happily the next morning at the meeting.

"Where's that other fool, he has to be here, too," Giroro grumbled, clutching onto his desk.

"He said not to get him unless it was life or death, and even then he'd have to think about it," Kirere answered. "He said he had to recover from some kind of trauma."

"Heh, he's probably just slacking off again," Giroro snorted, and glanced over to Kirere; she was kicking back and forth while Keroro carried on, looking about and obviously bored. He didn't notice her slip out of the meeting while he began to yell at Keroro over the latest bound-for-failure invasion strategy.

"Kuku, looks as though we have someone missing," Kururu crept into the meeting at the tail end and took a seat in between Tamama and Giroro.

"Kururu-dono, I'm here," Dororo answered with a grin beneath his mask, pointing to himself.

"Not you," Kururu answered curtly.

"K-Kirere-chan!" Giroro jumped out of his seat and bolted out of the room.

"I... I wasn't done..." Keroro muttered.

"Could you say, a worried mother hen?" Mois added, blinking at the dust cloud Giroro left in his wake.

"Andddd here!" Kirere grinned, snapping an arm on the figure into place and grinning at her handiwork. She had newspaper spread on the ground, Keroro's toolbox opened with the necessary tools spread out about her, and the beginnings of a Gunpla model in her hand. "..Mm, this looks like it works..."

"Kirere-chan!"

"Giroro-san?" Kirere turned about, and saw the red Keronian leaned against the doorway to the underground base. "Are you okay?... You look like you're going to pass out!"

"Wh-wha..."

"Ge-Gerooo! Wh-what're you doing!" Keroro yelped, running past Giroro and staring down at the child in disbelief.

"I... I saw it here, and it looked like a lot of fun..."

"I'm surprised you didn't hurt yourself on that, too," Tamama sighed as he walked out, followed by Dororo and Kururu.

"Please tell me you were at least following the directions!" Keroro moaned, picking up the box.

"It has directions?" Kirere asked earnestly.

"...You did this... Without directions?" Giroro lifted up the partially-finished model from her hands and studied it.

"Well, Keroro-san did some already, and I just saw one piece that seemed to go into one another, and they kept adding up as I went along... I'm really sorry, Keroro-san, I'll make it up to you!"

"You didn't paint it..." was all Keroro answered with dully.

"Hrm," Giroro took a seat cross-legged on the ground and leaned over, placing a hand on top of her head and turning her around. Kururu got a bit of a chuckle out of this, and Tamama, Keroro, and Dororo watched as Giroro took his own gun and disassembled it on the ground out of her sight. He then stood and turned her back around.

"Now try to put that back together," he instructed. "But don't fire it," he added quickly. Kirere nodded, and began to take the pieces and place them in their proper spots. Giroro could have put the gun together quicker, but for someone who'd never seen the workings of the gun before Kirere did an exceptional job.

"Guess she's not totally useless, after all," Tamama said, breaking the silence while Giroro inspected her handiwork.

"Ku ku! Seems as though she has a mind for puzzles," Kururu chuckled.

"Seems in good condition," Giroro remarked, and looked down at her. "What else can you do that with, I wonder?"

"We'll see, as of now I have a few more things to do," Kururu answered, that quasi-ominous tone in his voice.

"He really likes to be left by himself a lot," Kirere said as she stood up next to Giroro.

"I'm all right with that," Giroro answered with a huff.

"See? You were good at something after all, Kirere-chan," Dororo stepped forward and patted the young girl on the head. "It was all a matter of believing in yourself!"

"Thanks, Doro-kun," answered Kirere with a smile.

'Doro... kun?' repeated in Giroro.s mind... That, paired up with the beaming smile Kirere gave the ninja... He knew that smile...

'You're joking,' his shoulders slumped a bit at his realization.

"Are you staying to help Keroro-san?" Kirere asked, then both looked over to Keroro, who was still focused on the Gunpla. He had balled himself into Dororo's familiar trauma-switch position.

"...I think he's got a lot of his plate, as is," Dororo answered with a nervous twitter of a laugh, and then jumped up to his ceiling exit. "Bye, Kirere-chan!"

"Bye, Dororo-kun!" Kirere waved the ninja off and looked to Giroro, and gave another happy smile.

'Too... Cute... She's too damn cute," Tamama's eye twitched a bit as he watched this exchange. And then his poor Sergeant...

"Get over it, you mainly complained about how you didn't even like that model, anyway," Giroro snapped in Keroro's direction as he led Kirere out of the room.

"...There isn't room for something like that, especially if all she's going to do is cause Gunso-san pain," Tamama's jealousy was beginning to boil over as he was left standing there with Keroro still in the same corner. 'We already have the cute one of the group, damn it!'

"Where're we going?" Kirere asked, following Giroro as quickly as he small legs could manage.

"Some place you'll find fun," Giroro answered, hopping onto his hovercraft and motioning for her to join him. Kirere hopped on, clutching about his waist, and Giroro took off.

"Wow..." she gasped at the view they now both had from high above the ground. "Look at how many people there are!"

"And Keron will rule them all one day soon," Giroro added, continuing to look forward toward the destination.

"Keron?"

"The planet where you... Well, your race is from," Giroro explained. "We're here to take this all over and claim it in the name of Keron."

"And your girlfriend's okay with that?"

"M-my what!"

"The girl whose picture you have on your belt!" Kirere answered, not able to see Giroro's face growing increasingly red.

"T-t-that was there when I bought it!" Giroro sputtered. "I just never took the time to c-change the photo!... She's not my girlfriend, she's just another Pekoponian. And you shouldn't be looking in peoples' things without permission to begin with!"

"Sorry... But you like her?"

"We're here,: Giroro answered gruffly, landing the craft in the middle of a junkyard and switching both himself and Kirere to invisibility mode.

"W-wow, what is this place?" Kirere gasped, looking about at the piles of junk. Giroro saw a rat and shot at it.

"Be careful here," he answered, putting the gun back at this side. "It should be quiet about this time of the day... It's primitive technology but it;s a... Start... Kirere-chan!"

"Wheee!" she went running over a car hood and jumping over the other side, then shuffling through the pieces she found there.

"Hehe," Giroro merely gave a small smile at this, bemused at the child's raw excitement.

He waited a good couple of hours before fetching Kirere from a project she had gotten to work on... He wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, but it had a great deal of wiring, and tubes going down either side of its long body, and Kirere seemed extremely proud of it.

"We'll go back another day," he reassured her as they headed home. She was clearly sad about leaving the junkyard behind, but didn't protest beyond a small moan.

"Whew!" Keroro wiped his forehead with his arm and smiled at his handiwork; tile floors smooth enough to see one's reflection in, carpet fluffy soft and with the sweet smell of cleaner prevalent. "Nothing like a full day's worth of work at barely the wage minimum to keep one's soul strong!"

"We're home," Giroro announced as he slid open the glass door, Kirere running in and nearly knocking him back.

"Keroro-san! I just wanted to say again... How sorry I was..."

"Gero gero! Don't worry about it, Kirere-chan," Keroro patted the tot on the head and smiled. "After a brief mental collapse I realized that Gunpla is a hard hobby for anyone to resist, and I had four of those same common models in reserve anyway!"

"You mean it?"

"Of course," he answered with a saintly grin. "Hehe, now run along."

"Go get a bath," Giroro instructed her, and she gave a groan, but went rushing off to the bathroom all the same.

"Oh, childhood, what a pleasant time," Keroro laughed warmly, then opened his eyes. It was then he noticed the dirt on his hand from where he had patted Kirere on the head. â€œGero?â€

He then looked down at the tile, and the carpet, and followed the trail of tiny dirt footprints running from outside and towards the bathroom. "Eh... eh... GEROOOO!"

"Hrm," Giroro turned his head a bit towards the living room.

"What was that?:Kirere looked past Giroro to try to get a better look, but then turned her attention back to Giroro as he spoke.

"A duck, probably. Get in, I'll get you towels," Giroro instructed, and she nodded and slid open the door, nearly slamming it shut as she noticed someone already in there.

"Kirere-chan?" Natsumi leaned forward a bit. "Was that you?"

"Yes!"

"You can come in," the door slid open again, and Natsumi gasped. "What happened to you? You're a mess!"

"Giroro-san took me to a really fun place, full of machines, and I got to build whatever I wanted!"

"Well, why don't you tell me about it while you wash off?" Natsumi suggested, and Kirere nodded.

"Kirere, here, I-" Giroro opened the door, towels in hand. His eyes went white and his face beet red as he locked eyes with Natsumi.

"What do you think you're DOING?" Natsumi screeched, and flying out the window Giroro went.

"Woah... You're really strong..." Kirere gasped, clearly impressed by this show of strength, more so than by the fact Natsumi had made a field goal with Giroro into the next door neighbor's yard.

"That jerk," Natsumi grumbled, and sunk deeper down in the bath.

After a bath and making sure Giroro's injuries weren't too, too severe (he had recovered quickly and was still red in the face at the thought of what he had walked in on) Kirere walked back down to the lab, where Kururu was whiling away on yet another invention.

"Ku ku, did you and Giroro Senpai have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was great!" Kirere answered excitedly. "Except for about a half hour ago... Natsumi-san threw Giroro-san out of a window... And Keroro-san's been crying, but won't say why."

"Kukuku! Pekoponian trash seems to interest you a lot. Maybe if you keep showing progress I'll give you something Keronian to fiddle around with, show you what real power is."

"R-really?" she went to hug him, but suddenly remembered, and resisted the urge to do so.

Kururu glanced at a screen with the time clearly written and gave a small noise of interest, "Lunch time, ku ku..."

"It's eight at night," Kirere answered, puzzled.

"I keep... Strange hours," Kururu answered, followed by a chuckle.

"Well, I want some of what you're having."

"Heh, you couldn't take it, kuku," Kururu answered with a snort as he headed to the large pot he had set up in a corner of his lab. "This is a man's curry, not meant for some little tadpole... But if you insist on torturing yourself..." he passed her a plate and took a seat in his chair after making a plate for himself; he was a bit surprised as the child wolfed down the spicy curry without barely giving a blink. "Kuku, if you can eat that and like it, I can guarantee you'll never go hungry."

Kirere sat cross-legged on the ground by the chair as she ate, looking at all of the different screens along with Kururu, who sat there blankly, the images reflecting off of the lenses of his glasses. She gave a yawn after setting her plate on the floor and sat back.

"Tch, it's your bedtime," Kururu announced as he saw this. "I have some work to get to, myself, and I don't need a child running about, kukuku. You'll only be in my way."

He took his plate of curry with him as she trudged to her bedroom, giving another yawn. Her tired eyes opened as she walked into the room, and saw it had been completely overhauled, and was now a proper eleven-year-old girl's room, done in mainly pinks and purples.

"Wow, you did this?"

"You couldn't have slept in the crib," Kururu answered, and noticed her fidgeting. "...If you really have to get it out of your system, hug this..." he revealed a yellow hand puppet, and she did just this while he stifled a shudder.

"Good night, Kururu-san!"

"It's still early; we'll see how it goes," he answered in his usual mumble, turning out of the bedroom.

It was a few hours later Kirere woke up to use the bathroom, and on her trip back she decided to see exactly what he hadn't wanted her around for. There was no great invention anywhere to be seen, only a passed out scientist slumped over his worktable, small, insignificant gadgets all about him. She grabbed a blanket from his hammock and tossed this over him; he stirred a bit and she took a step back, then took a few more cautious steps forward and removed his glasses, setting these on the table in front of him.

"Hrm..." he looked sound asleep enough. She waved a hand in front of his face a few times; nothing. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, having to rise on her tiptoes to do so. He fidgeted a bit again, and his light snoring sounded a lot like his laugh. She broke away from him, and walked back to her room, "Good night, Kururu-san."


	7. Chapter 7

"Nya!" Kururu tumbled out of his chair and blinked a few times, wondering why everything looked as though he were in a fishbowl. The world had gone fuzzy on him, as well as upside down.

"Oh, wow, your eyes are pretty!" came a surprised gasp, and Kururu only gave a grumble and clutched onto the workbench, then began to feel around for his glasses while muttering "megane, megane" to himself. He finally managed to find them and put them on, blinking a few times to adjust to the high-powered lenses, and looked down at Kirere.

"...Good morning..."

"Kuku, debatable," Kururu returned, and picked up the blanket, looking at it curiously a moment then discarding and tossing it in his chair. "I have to get to work. Kuku, do as you please, just stay out of my way."

"Okay, are you sure there's nothing I... Okay," her voice fell as Kururu walked straight past her and to his computer. "...Guess not."

She wandered out of the lab, and into the main Hinata house, where the children had to school and Aki was pulling another long shift. It didn't take long for her to become aware of a noise coming from the kitchen; she quietly crept into kitchen and saw Keroro happily singing to himself, in apron and bandanna, and polishing the kitchen table.

"Keroro-san!" she shouted happily, and Keroro jumped a bit, losing balance and slipping, landing face-first on the table.

"...I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Keroro muttered from his place on the table.

"What're you doing?"

"Ah, Kirere-chan," Keroro stood up, a bruise forming on his nose but a grin on his face all the same. "I'm filling my daily quota of chores. Getting a head start on things."

"Can I help? Kururu-san said to stay out of his way..." Kirere looked up to the Sergeant hopefully, and Keroro's mouth twitched.

"Really, I think I'll be fine," Keroro answered, his nerves continuing to fray as he grew aware of the fact he was in the most dangerous room in the house with the child who seemed to have trouble follow her everywhere. There was the collection of knives, the heavy metal pots... Even gruesome thoughts about what the dishwasher could do to him flashed through his mind.

"Why don't you go get some fresh air? All of these cleaning chemicals, they can't be healthy for you!" Keroro suggested. "At your age it was a challenge to get me to go indoors!"

Kirere gave a small sigh seeing as how she was not needed here either, and turned to leave through the sliding glass doors.

"Gero... Crisis averted," Keroro sighed in relief, resting his hands and leaning on the kitchen table. It was at that moment that the back left leg on the table gave out, and Keroro slammed down on top of it.

"Now that... Was just unfair..." he groaned from his spot, which was again face-down on the table.

Kirere had every intent to go see what Giroro was doing next, but instead her attention was given completely to the sudden presence of Dororo in the backyard. The blue ninja was crouched down in order to pick up an unfortunate snail that had fallen on its side.

"There, there, little friend," he picked up the brown gastropod and deposited it on the leaf of a nearby potted plant. "Now don't go doing that again. I can't guarantee I'll be around to help you next time!"

Kirere couldn't even hide the laugh of awe, and Dororo turned around to face her, and gave a polite smile, "Kirere-chan, it's a little stormy for you to be out, isn't it?"

"I kept getting kicked out of places," she answered, kicking at the ground. "Where's Giroro-san at?" she turned and realized Giroro wasn't at his usual spot by his tent, and Neko was sleeping on one of the cinder blocks.

"I believe he went to get a message from Kururu-dono," Dororo answered. "And Tamama-dono is down there, as well."

"Aren't you going to go down there too, then?"

"I was down there to water my plants... No one noticed..." he added, looking off ward and finishing off his sentence with a bit of a sad whine.

"T-that's okay! Who'd want to be a ninja everyone noticed all the time, anyway? It's good no one notices you!"

This just seemed to depress Dororo more.

"Ku ku! Looks like I'm not the only depressing one here anymore!" came a laugh from the now open sliding glass door. "That's wonderful news, kukukuku."

"I... I didn't mean to do anything!" Kirere sputtered.

"...Ninja was a good profession for someone who always goes unnoticed," Dororo muttered absently.

"Whaa?" Kirere looked back to Dororo, then to Kururu.

"Ku ku! I'm not helping out; I get a kick out of things like this!" Kururu stepped out and had a hand to his mouth as he examined Dororo. "...Kuku, I could probably throw something at him and he wouldn't notice."

"Don't do that!"

"Kukuku, you're just like Giroro Senpai, can't take a joke. I changed my mind about that help."

"You did hear me, then?"

"Hard not to when you keep talking," Kururu answered with his creepy laugh intact. "Come on, get ready, I'm going to do some fieldwork, ku ku!"

"S-sorry again, Dororo-kun," Kirere whispered as she left the Keronian assassin to his thoughts.

Kururu led her down to the lab, not minding the screaming and pounding that was coming from one room.

"...That sounded like Giroro-san," Kirere stopped in front of one heavy metal door, then source of most of the noise, and stood there a few moments, gawking at the dents that had been made in it.

"Ku ku! We don't have time to investigate every strange noise around here, come on," Kururu stopped and looked back at her, and Kirere gave a nod and ran to keep up with him.

"IDIOT! You've done a lot of stupid crap, Keroro, but this takes it!" Giroro yelled from behind the thick glass wall.

"Tamama Nitohei, is he still going at it?" Keroro took a sip from his hot tea and watched from the safe side of the wall, beside Tamama.

Tamama looked up from his video game and nodded, "He's just started talking to himself now..."

"Thank goodness for a Giroro-proof room. It's the best expenditure we've made in months, in my opinion, gero," Keroro smiled, clearly relieved. There was still a large white bandage over his nose, from his previous encounter(s) with the table. "Now if I could just think of a way to Kirere-proof myself."

"Eh?" Tamama turned and looked to the sergeant.

"It seems that whenever she's near me, I fall under some sort of misfortune... At first I was just thinking it was coincidence, but then the table gave out of me, and it all became clear after recovering from the blackout!"

"Payback for everything you did to Giroro Goucho?" Tamama wondered aloud, looking back to Giroro. "...He's jumping on the walls again."

"Thank goodness for the padding, he'd probably scuff up the ceiling otherwise," Keroro answered calmly. "And I don't think I ever did that much to Giroro Goucho to deserve a table to the face twice. I wasn't that mean to him growing up."

"Ojii-sama?" Mois walked in and she, too, watched Giroro for a few moments. "Could you say, a strained relationship?"

"I simply sent out the invitation as a formality," Keroro answered, and all jumped as Giroro smacked his fist against the glass wall. "...But perhaps my finely-tuned military man courtesy went a step too far this time."

"I know you can see and hear me, Keroro you bastard!" Giroro shouted. "Let me out of here so I can end the source of my misery for once and for all!"

"...This could be a very long day," Keroro sighed. "Gero?"

Giroro's pounding on the glass was starting to work; there were cracks starting to form from where he kept pounding his fist. "D-don't tell me Kururu Soucho got cheap with the glass, of all things..."

Giroro had a good reason to break through the glass, and reach for Keroro; Keroro had been the one to send the invitation, after all. Garuru had sent a response back to the invitation he had been sent. He was very interested in meeting his niece.

"Wow!" Kirere leaned looked out the window of the small blue aircraft and at the zooming white and green ocean underneath them. She laughed as she saw a few dolphins jump up, and looked over to Kururu. He was unimpressed and definitely more focused on driving than anything. "Those're so cool!"

"We aren't here on a field trip, kuku," Kururu reminded her.

"What're we here for, then?" Kirere sat back in her seat and turned to Kururu, who gave another laugh.

"A project of mine," he answered. "...Nothing mechanical, per se, so it'll probably bore you."

"Then why're you taking me?"

"Kuku, I need the extra hands," he replied. "Here, these'll help you."

"Hrm?" she watched as Kururu revealed a box from the side of his chair and passed it to her. "Wow! These are for me?"

"Kuku, I figured you'd need those if you're going to be rummaging around Pekoponian trash with Giroro Senpai."

"They fit just right," Kirere slipped on the brown gloves and squeezed her hands a few times. "...Why're you being so nice?"

"Kuku! You think I'm being nice, eh?"

"Everyone says you're an unpopular jerk, but... You seem all right."

"Ku ku... Unpopular? I guess I am," he answered with a laugh. "It's a pair of gloves. Don't mistake it as anything more than that."

"Yeah," she nodded and gave a smile as she slipped the black bracelet over one of the gloves.

"Here we are," he pulled forward on the wheel, causing the craft to steadily descend closer and closer to the water.

"K-Kururu-san, we're going to go under!"

"That'd be the point."

"Can this thing go underwater?"

"Well, we'll find out. Kuku, I guess there's a mechanical side to this trip, after all," he answered calmly, and the craft bounced and shook as it fell underwater. Kirere gave a yell and gripped onto the arms of her chair as tightly as possible. There were a few moments of this, and then she managed to open her eyes and look at the bright blue surrounding them both. A school of fish passed by, and she ran to the window to get a better look.

"Ku ku... Looks like we're taking water," Kururu flipped through the screens in front of him, and then looked back to Kirere. "This is where you come in. Kuku, let's see exactly how quick you learn."

"What? What about you!"

"I've got my own things to attend to. Take the tool bag and get to work. Come on, before we're swimming home."

"O-okay," she jumped a bit, and ran towards the source of the leaks. "Yeah, I've got this," she added with a determined grin.

"...Well, it's good that it didn't get TOO high, right?" Kirere gave a nervous laugh, and looked from across the raft to Kururu. "And you got your information, right?"

Kururu said nothing to this, only looked back at the blue watercraft, which had indeed taken on a great amount of water. He had said nothing since pulling her out of the air/seacraft. It was half-submerged, its nose sticking up to the sky as it bobbed up and down in the waterâ€¦ It looked almost like one of the dolphins jumping out in the distance.

"Hey! Our ride's here!: she looked happily at the sight of big blocky Pekoponian suit transportation ship. Kururu still remained quiet to this; he allowed Kirere to climb up the ladder first, and he followed afterwards, rolling up the ladder and looking out at the ship.

"I'll pick it up later, ku ku," Kururu took one more look at the seacraft then climbed into the front next to Mois. "We're far out in international waters, and there's no one fishing here this time of year, so we ought to be safe."

"Could you say a few developmental oversights?" Mois replied, looking down at the wreckage and then momentarily at Kirere, who was seated in the back and looking downward at the floor. "Is she all right?"

"Meh," was Kururu's only answer, and he turned away from Mois and instead decided to look in the opposite direction of either girl for the entirety of the trip. He had screwed up and knew it; it wasn't like him to make mistakes but to actually have trusted a little novice with one of his inventions, and use it to test her... And now it would take weeks to rebuild, at the least.

Kirere was the first off of the ship, and she ran straight for Giroro's tent without even looking at Mois or Kururu.

It was evening now, and the sun had nearly set. Giroro had exhausted himself, and after teaching all respected parties another lesson (he had been handing out many in the past few days) he decided it was best to sit back and dread the inevitable.

"Giroro-san?" Kirere peered into his tent and then stepped in, just as he turned up the radio to listen to Saburo's evening radio show. "Are you busy now?"

"Kirere-chan? What happened?" it was obvious the girl had cried her entire way over to his tent, and she took a seat next to him. He was wondering who he would have to beat up now... More than likely Kururu. The idiot had probably finally gone and said something he shouldn't have...

"I messed up really bad, and I think Kururu-san's upset with me."

"Did he tell you?" Giroro continued to polish the rifle he'd been working on for some time now, another method of getting Garuru off of his mind. He'd all but worn off the finish on it.

"No, he didn't say anything... He didn't even laugh."

That was indeed a pretty bad sign, when Kururu didn't even laugh. His silence was scarier than any evil cackle the scientist could crow out.

"And now, we have a poem from..." Giroro drowned the rest of the message out, and looked to Kirere.

"Life is full of mistakes, it's about learning from them and growing stronger from them," he began. That sounded really cool, he mused to himself. He was about to begin another sentence, taking in another breath, but stopped short. Something had caught his attention on the radio.

"T... That's one of my..." Giroro looked back at the radio, stone-white and horrified. "T-that one was for the garbage! H-how did it?..."

Eyes fell back on Kirere. She sat there now, squirming, and in a near-silent tone said, "I saw your mail, and... It was... Before you woke up... So I... I thought I'd help..."

"T-that one wasn't supposed to be read," Giroro now shook a bit. "...I need a few moments to myself..."

Kirere nodded, and backed out of the tent, leaving Giroro slumped over his gun and horrified. She continued backing away until she bumped into something, and fell to the ground. She looked up and saw the other tadpole member of the platoon.

"Tama-chan?" she stood up and dusted herself off. "What're you doing here?"

"Just star-gazing," he answered with an innocent grin. He'd heard everything. This would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

"Do you mind if I..."

"Nah, the more the merrier!" he grinned and took a seat on the grass and smiled at her.

"Thanks..." she sniffed and took a seat next to him.

"Aw... Kii-chi, what's wrong?" Tamama blinked and drew his attention away from the stars and to Kirere. "What're you looking so sad for?"

"I've messed up a lot for everyone... Everyone's mad at me."

"Mm, and with Giroro Goucho's brother coming over and all..." here came the setup.

"His brother? I... I didn't know he had one."

Tamama gave a nod and folded his arms, "Garuru Chuii. He's super-scary and he's higher-ranking than any of us. He could probably tell us to get back to Keron, and we'd have to do it. Giroro Gocho would never see Nat-chi again, and Gunso-san would have to leave Fuu-ki behind..."

"What? But he wouldn't do that, right?"

"Who knows," Tamama answered with a sigh. "He could be mad that there's a kid on the team distracting everyone."

"I don't know, you seem to do your part..."

It took all of Tamama's inner strength to not snap off at her right then and there; it would ruin everything that had been almost set up for him, "N-not... Me..."

"O-oh," she nodded, now understanding. â€œSo you all might have to go back because of me?"

"Even Dororo Heicho, and he loves it here. He spends most of his time protecting Pekopon!" Tamama added with a laugh. "We'll just see how it goes and hope for the best, right?"

"...Mm... I have to get to bed, it's my bedtime," her voice dropped as she spoke, and she stood and headed to the sliding door.

"Oh, Kirere-chan!" Keroro stopped as she walked in; in arms there was a stack of newspapers for Giroro to burn. "Have a good night! Gero?" he added curiously as she answered back nothing, then he shrugged this off and went back to his business. A particularly shiny flyer fell from the top of the stack, and Keroro stepped on it and slid, falling back onto the concrete and the newspaper flying all about him. "Wha-what, that was a cheap shot! A cheap shot!"

"Gunso-san! Let me give a hand!" Tamama hopped up from his spot on the grass and cheerfully walked over to Keroro and began to help collect the papers. 'Heh, now she'll know better than to mess with the cute one...'


	8. Chapter 8

With a heat index of 102* outside, there's not a lot to do except write, really ^_^' Oh I felt bad writing Tamama that mean in the last chapter, but I look at it as more of him being a jealous older sibling than anything. Well, please enjoy this chapter, as always!

Chapter 8:

"Giro-chan?" Aki Hinata entered the backyard, her backpack in one hand and her helmet in the other. It was pretty late, but Giroro's lamp was still on, and it was clear to see him sitting up through the tent material.

"What brings her here?" Giroro snapped out of his disbelief and depression long enough to poke his head out the door of his tent. "Is something the matter?"

"I picked up something for Kirere-chan," Aki answered with a grin, holding out a small stuffed cat. "I got it on my way home from work... I hope it's not too late, I'm not disturbing you two, am I?"

"No... She's with Kururu," Giroro took the stuffed animal, and looked at it, studying the face a moment. He was looking it over as though it were some kind of bomb that needed disassembling.

"It's a nekokoneko," Aki continued, smiling. "Fuyuki and Natsumi said one of Kuru-chan's inventions was used on her, so she's big now. Must be exciting!"

"Yes, I... I'll make sure to give this to her," Giroro answered as Aki stood, and he looked up at her. "...Thank you..."

"You must be nervous."

"Eh? No... I mean, with the battles I've fought, this is nothing," Giroro answered. The part about the battles was true, but the rest...

"Parenting's one of the hardest things to do, if you ask me. There's a lot of learning, on everyone's part... But it's still a lot of fun," Aki gave a laugh. "Just make sure to be there to support them and love them, no matter what. I think you'll do fine, though, Giro-chan. You seem to have a good heart, even if you're an invader," she finished this with a wink, leaving Giroro to his own thoughts.

"...Kirere," he muttered, and headed down to the lab quickly, toy cat in hand.

At this same time, Kururu was going over plans in his lab, looking over the large printout blueprints for the same watercraft that had gone down that afternoon. He'd managed to mark down some of the potential weak spots, and only had a bit more math to work out.

"Kuku, now where'd I put that...?" he muttered to himself, and reached over for a calculator, only to lay his hand upon the same set of brown gloves he had given Kirere earlier in the day. "Eh?"

"Natsumi's mother... Dropped this off for Kirere," Giroro held up the stuffed toy, looking a bit uncomfortable as he held the cute toy.

"Kuku, why are you giving it to me, then?"

"She wasn't in her room," Giroro answered. "I figured she'd..."

"So she's not with you?" Kururu now turned around to face Giroro, still holding the gloves.

"N-no," Giroro took a step back. "You don't think..."

Kururu said nothing, but headed over to his screens, Giroro following behind him.

:How many of these do you have set up?" Giroro wondered aloud as Kururu began to switch through the cameras.

"Kuku! More than you can probably count to," Kururu answered, maintaining his cool even when Kirere was nowhere to be seen in the house.

"She's missing?: Fuyuki gasped.

"Yes," Giroro nodded, looking down at the floor of the living room and daring not meet eye contact with anyone. "This is all my fault..."

"Kuku, you shouldn't have been so hard on her," Kururu answered, and Giroro growled and delivered a punch to the back of Kururu's head.

"It's just as much yours, too!" Giroro shouted to the yellow scientist, who was now face-down on the ground.

"We should split up and look for her," Aki suggested suddenly. "I'll take my bike and start looking around."

"Gero, we'll all start looking too," Keroro nodded, and looked over to Tamama. "Right, Tamama Nitohei?"

'I went too far! Shit!' Tamama's mind was now racing. 'I never meant for something like this to happen! If she's hurt then... Crap, I'm so dead!'

"We'll have to hurry, she doesn't know the area well, she could be lost or get herself hurt," Dororo stood. "I'll get Koyuki-dono."

"I'm calling Nishizawa-san now," Fuyuki rushed to the house phone, and Natsumi stood and hurried to her room.

"I'll look around the park!" she called as she hurried to her room, to change out of her pajamas.

"I really messed up big..." Tamama muttered, then he, too, went off hurrying to look for Kirere. If it were to get out that this had been caused by him, he'd have to face the wrath of both the mad scientist and the mad dog weapons expert; and they probably wouldn't be kind to him.

Giroro headed out of the house to his tent, and after coming back out with his transportation and a gun (just in case) he found Kururu readying to takeoff.

"You're going out, too?" Giroro couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

"I spent a lot of time on that project," Kururu answered. "You really think Iâ€™m going to let it run off like that?"

"You can never admit when you care, can you?"

"Kuku! This seems interesting, that's all," Kururu answered, and after this he took off. Giroro joined soon after, using the laser wings attached to his belt to take flight and begin searching for the young Keronian.

"Kii-chi!" Tamama shouted in the dead of night. "Kii-chi!" he had decided to go farther out, into the outskirts.

"I never meant for this to happen... I just didn't want her to replace me..." he moaned as he wiped his eyes. He then saw the junkyard just under him; he'd heard something in passing how Giroro had taken her there a few days back, and how she'd enjoyed it. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance...

He floated down to get a closer look, making sure to keep his invisibility on all the while hovering through the eerie-looking mounds of dead cars and other Pekoponian appliances.

Tamama became aware of a rustling sound, and peered into the car body. Sure enough, there was the little pink Keronian, bundled up in a corner and fast asleep.

"Kii-chi?" Tamama hopped off of his craft and ran across the seat bed to her.

"Eh?" Kirere batted her eyes open, and they grew in surprise as she noticed she wasn't alone in the cab anymore.

"Tama-chan! Wha... What're you...? How'd you get here?"

"Kii-chi! Everybody's looking for you!" Tamama exclaimed excitedly. "We were all worried! Even Momo-chi's got her security searching all over for you!"

"They were worried? I thought they'd be happy if I wasn't around... Garuru Chuii wouldn't come and make you all leave," she sat up and looked across at him.

"I... I was just being..."Tamama looked off ward. "I'm... There might've been some exaggeration on my part."

Kirere gave a scream suddenly, and Tamama jerked around at the sound of vicious barking, and all he saw at first were two rows of shiny, pearly, and sharp teeth. He took a few steps back, standing in front of Kirere, and summoned his power.

"Tamama IMPACT!"

There was a blinding light; the guard dog didn't know what hit it, but after it came to, it ran away yelping.

"That was pretty cool," Kirere whispered as Tamama stood there, panting.

"Ha ha, that was nothing! You should see when I'm angry!" Tamama placed a hand behind his head and laughed. "Now let's get you back home."

"So they're not mad at me?"

"No,"Tamama was halfway out of the car window and looked back to her. "Everyone's worried, actually. Even Kururu Soucho's out looking for you, and he doesn't do that for anyone, not even Gunso-san!"

"Then why..."

"B-because I'm the cute one, damn it!" he shouted, briefly snapping into his jealous personality. His face then turned back to his normal, cute face, and he looked away from her, a bit embarrassed.

"I... I wasn't trying to be the cute one, I just don't want to be the screw-up," Kirere admitted quietly. "But... If anything I guess I could be the token girl member. There... There's usually a girl member on a team, too, right?"

"The token... Girl? Yeah... That could work," he said with some thought.

"There's always one girl on the team!" Kirere stood and walked over to him. "And maybe you can give me some tips on how to be cuter... Might make up for the clumsiness."

"As long as you're not looking to replace me," he answered, a glint in his eye.

"We could have a friendly competition, then," she replied, followed by a yawn. Tamama climbed out of the car and then Kirere followed, struggling onto the hovercraft and then balancing herself on it.

"Competition, huh? I like that thinking," Tamama admitted with a devious grin as they took off.

"No sign of her at the train station," Giroro sighed with defeat; everyone had reported back to the Hinatas' backyard after a half hour to report their progress.

"Kuku! She was nowhere near the shops, and I scanned that Pekoponian junk pile, too," Kururu floated down next to Giroro and now joined Dororo, Keroro, Mois, Koyuki, Fuyuki, Momoka, and Natsumi.

"The park was no good,: Natsumi sighed. "And I had Koyuki-chan and Dororo helping too."

"We didn't even get a scent," Dororo added.

"We'll keep looking, she can't be far," Giroro stated sternly. "We'll start searching out farther."

"I hope she's all right..." Fuyuki added quietly, and Momoka looked over to him and gave a nod.

"Hrm?" Natsumi's phone went off, and she looked at the number, a bit confused. "Mama? You just saw Tamama and Kirere? They're coming this way."

"Could you say, a great relief?" Mois chimed in, and the relief was felt all throughout the group.

It wasn't much longer then that Tamama and Kirere landed in the backyard, and both hopped off of the small aircraft. Kirere looked at Giroro, and began to wail. She didn't stop even after she ran to him and clung onto him, all while he looked puzzled.

"Kukuku," Kururu gave a laugh, and Giroro gave a glare in Kururu's direction. It was a "say something her or watch as I pain the house in your blood" glare. "Kukuku... Well, that was quick," He was completely deadpan as a spoke.

"Good going, Tamama Nitohei!" Keroro exclaimed, patting the black tadpole on the shoulder. Part of Tamama felt guilty for taking the prais...

"Gunso-san, I... I..."

"Tama-chan saved me from a dog!" Kirere parted just enough from Giroro to look up and tell him this. "It was gonna eat us! He did something, it looked like it was out of Dragon Ball."

This praise Tamama didn't feel so guilty about taking; she was right, afterall. He gave a small grin which grew as Keroro patted him on the shoulder.

"I'll get her to bed," Giroro lifted her up and carried her into the house, much to everyone's surprise.

"Could you say, a natural-born mother?" Mois interjected, clearly as puzzled at the rest of the group.

"Kuku!"

"I think Goucho's really changed a bit, don't you, Nee-chan?" Fuyuki looked to his sister, who nodded, then gave a small grin.

"I don't think it's for the worse, either," she added.

"This'll be a tough one, but I'm up for the challenge," Tamama said beneath his breath, and clenched his fists.

"What... What an aura..." Keroro noted, looking over to the rejuvenated Tamama.

"So what's your brother like?" Giroro nearly dropped the stuffed toy as Kirere asked this from her place, now tucked safely in military-tight sheets.

"G-Garuru? He's... Older than me. Here, Natsumi's mother brought this home for you. I think it's supposed to be a cat."

Kirere took the stuffed toy and then clung to it, and stared at Giroro, waiting for him to go into this a bit more.

"Garuru's the... Leader of a platoon," Giroro continued.

"Could he really make you leave Pekopon?" Kirere asked quickly. Giroro looked shocked; where'd she even get an idea like that in her head?

"He wouldn't be the one to give the final word," Giroro explained. "Keroro wouldn't let that happen, anyway."

"You're sure?:

"There're no Gunpla on Keron... I'm positive of it," Giroro folded his arms and nodded. "We've fought to stay before. You shouldn't even be worrying about it."

"Am I a Pekoponian?"

"I... You're a Keronian born on Pekopon," Giroro sighed. "Don't worry about it. Keroro's inept for the most part, but he's a good leader when he can manage to get his act together."

"Really?"

"Well, there's a reason I still follow him instead of killing him. Now get to bed. Everyone's exhausted."

"Would you mind staying in here until I fell asleep?"

"I, um..." Giroro hesitated a moment, then took a seat on the edge of the bed. "All right. I'm here. Now go to sleep."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Kukuku!" click. Then another click. Then Giroro woke up, and saw Kururu standing over him. "Adorable, kukukuku!"

"Eh?" Giroro jerked up, and looked down at the stuffed toy cat in his arms. He'd ended up falling asleep on the bed as well, and somehow had managed to grab and keep hold of the nekokoneko while Kirere slept next to him. His face went bright red, and he immediately threw it down; Kirere gave a yelp as it bounced off of her head.

"Kuku, now THIS is a good morning," Kururu laughed as he took a few more shots.

"O-OUT!" Giroro snapped, jumping off of the bed and taking chase after Kururu. "And give me that camera!"

"Oh, Giroro Goucho!" Keroro stopped the red Keronian dead in his tracks and stood in front of Giroro. "You're up late! But no matter, we've got work to do, and little time to do it!"

"W-work?" Giroro's gears completely shifted. "An invasion strategy? What is it, Keroro?"

"Streamers!" Keroro grinned, pushing the paper strips in Giroro's arms and prancing away. "So much to do, so much to do!"

"H-how come the only time you show ANY focus anymore is for something useless like this?" Giroro shouted, but Keroro was already gone. "...What is this?" he pulled out one of the strips and looked it over. "What... What am I supposed to do with these, anyway? K-Keroro! What are these?"

"Kukukuku!" Kururu was still laughing to himself as he looked through the photos on the screen on his camera, and then turned around at the sound of a small shuffling. "I don't need you in here right now. I have something you can work on in the meantime, though."

Kirere rubbed her tired eyes and looked Kururu over, "You still trust me?"

"Ku ku, I just don't see how it could be damaged anymore than it already is, is all," Kururu led her into a hanger, where the blue seacraft from the day before sat, its doors open and air drying. "It's just something to keep you out of my projects. I'd rather have you mess up one large one then most of my smaller ones, ku kuku! And do me a favor and take Giroro Senpai with you if you plan to take this one out for a ride again."

Kirere said nothing to this, and went into curiosity mode once more, jumping on the hood of the craft and pulling open the hatch.

"Gloves are on the seat!" Kururu added as he left her alone with the craft.

"G-Giroro Goucho, are you..."

"I'm fine!" Giroro shouted, ripping through the streamers he had become entangled in. "Just fine! I can do this!"

"Gero... Maybe I should've put you on punch bowl duty," Keroro added flatly at this scene as he set down the plates on the low table. They were decorating the room usually reserved for parties, birthdays, and hasty invasion celebrations. Giroro took a tumble from the ladder he'd been on, and with him went the streamers he had managed to put up.

Tamama moaned as he walked over to Keroro. "Giroro Goucho's going to kill himself."

"Gero," Keroro added flatly in agreement.

"Giroro?" Natsumi walked in, the cake in her hands, and Giroro, still entangled in pink streamers, grew bright red. "What're you doing playing around like that, of all people?"

"I-I'm not!" Giroro managed to wriggle out and sat up.

"Here, let me give you a hand," she sighed and picked up a new roll of pink paper and began to hang it up as high as she could without use of a ladder. "You can't get by with an army of one, right?"

"W-what?" Giroro stuttered, nearly dropping the tacks he had managed to pick up off the floor.

"It's from something I heard on the radio last night... It was a pretty awful poem all around, but that line seemed to stick out... One of those stupid things you get stuck in your head, I guess."

'M-my poem... S-she quoted from my poem!" the words "awful" and "stupid" had been drowned out, and Giroro was too busy floating on a cloud of pure ecstasy. 'She quoted from my poem! N-Natsumi! She...'

"Giroro, are you okay?"

"Y-yes, of course!" Giroro shook his head in a vain attempt to bring himself back down. 'She quoted from my poem! Ha-ahh!'

"Hey! Natsumi-san!"

"S-Saburo Senpai!" Natsumi spun around, the streamer still in her hand, and Giroro, who held the other half, went tumbling down from the ladder he'd been climbing up.

"I hope I didn't come too early," he said with an apologetic laugh.

'I was hoping he wouldn't come, period,' Giroro clenched his fists as he laid eyes on the silver-haired boy.

"So where's the other old man at?" Saburo scratched the back of his head and laughed. "It's hard to believe Kururu out of anyone would have a kid that cute, but weirder things have happened around here, I guess."

"I really haven't been able to think of anything that tops that, and I've been trying since the first chapter," Keroro said to himself as he adjusted the centerpiece. "Perfect!"

"Hrm, I think I know what this needs..." Saburo took his sketch pad, which had been at his side, and began to draw away. A few at a time, balloons began to lift from the page, all decorated with white wings on the front. "Not too shabby..." he looked about at his handiwork and gave a nod as the balloons flew straight up to the ceiling and remained there.

"Did you want to help with streamers?" Natsumi asked, trying her best to hide a blush and a shy grin.

"I've got the damn streamers!" Giroro fumed, climbing back up on the ladder once more.

"Natsumi-san!" Koyuki popped out from a loose tile right in front of Giroro, and again the red Keronian went falling to the ground.

"This is getting painful to watch, Gunso-san," Tamama stopped putting up the banner just long enough to watch Giroro twitch on the floor.

"Kukuku!" Kururu gave another laugh and looked at his handiwork, and could barely contain his laughter. He had to finish up, though, the party was going to start soon.

He was much too involved in getting a laugh out of his latest stunt to watch the lone blinking monitor, the one that looked at ocean activity. There were several blinking lights, but Kururu paid them no attention from his place at his worktable.

"Kuku, no one's going to have to worry about finding a super weapon here... Just a normal little Keronian girl," he giggled, adjusting the mirror a bit and tilting his head to a side. "Kukukukukuku!"

"Well, at least they're up," Keroro looked at the oddly placed streamers and gave a sigh.

"Gunso, Momo-chii's here!" Tamama announced happily as he ran in, Momoka following.

"Fuyuki-kun! I brought a small gift with me," Momoka held out the beautifully wrapped box to Fuyuki, who took it and yelped at the surprising weight of the package. 'I could give a crap if there's another one or not, but getting to see Fuyuki-kun twice, and this quick!... It's like a dream!'

"W-what is this, Nishizawa-san?" Fuyuki struggled to the table to drop off the gift, and Natsumi gave a sigh and a shake of the head, and took the package from Fuyuki with ease.

"Just a little something I picked up on the way here from Italy this morning," Momoka answered with an innocent grin. "It's not much, but I still hope she likes it."

"Mama called and said she's running late but to save her some cake," Natsumi returned from setting the package aside and joined the others. "Eh? Someone at the door...?" she heard a ringing from the front, and headed out of the room, Giroro following not too far behind.

"I better go see who it is..." Giroro said in passing as he left as well.

"He looked nervous," Tamama turned to Keroro, who was scratching the back of his head.

"I think that's because he's got a good idea of who it is," Keroro laughed worriedly.

"Hello?" Natsumi opened the door, and looked left, then right, down. There sure enough was Garuru, with Chief Medic Pururu standing beside him. Pururu held a beautifully wrapped package, with a large pink bow on the top, while Garuru carried flowers in one arm and a stuffed Keron doll in the other.

Garuru held the flowers out to Natsumi as she made eye contact with him, "Congratulations."

"Wha... What?" Natsumi looked down at the flowers; Giroro felt his heart actually stop for few moments.

'He... He didn't! He didn't!'

"Um, thanks, I guess...' Natsumi took the flowers, and continued to watch Garuru as he entered the home; there was something comical about a tough soldier such as him carrying such an adorable toy, but Giroro was still too horrified to find anything funny at that moment.

"Pururu-chan!" Keroro exclaimed as he now stood in the doorway. "Where's everyone else?"

"Back on the ship. No one was really interested in attending a little girl's birthday party," Pururu answered with a smile. "So where is she, anyway?"

"Probably down with the party already," Keroro took the box and looked down at it; he shook the contents lightly after everyone else had passed him.

"Let's go," Giroro snapped, turning back to Keroro.

"R-right," the Sergeant smiled apologetically and headed into the room.

"Wow, a lot of tension in here," Saburo placed his hands behind his head as he watched Natsumi walk in with the flowers, followed by the Keronians. "You can almost see it in the air."

"It must be really exciting, Natsumi," Pururu grinned and looked up at the redhead. "I'm still a little young to be thinking about stuff like that myself, but it's got to be fulfilling!"

"W-wait, you think I'm... No, I'm not her..." Natsumi laughed and held out her hands in protest. "Where would you even get an idea like that, ha ha!"

Giroro felt a sharp pain in his heart at this light laughter; a little bit of him died right then.

Garuru looked over to Giroro, "Then... Who..."

"Ah, look at all the people who've shown up, Kirere-chan!" the voice was Kururu, but it was almost too high and happy, much more like his Kururuko voice. From the stunned looks of silence, Giroro didn't want to turn around; he didn't want to see what had made even Garuru bring a pupil into view to get a better look.

"Ehehe, yeah, a lot of people..." Kirere answered with a twitching smile. Giroro turned around at this point, and went completely white.


	10. Chapter 10

It certainly was Kururu, but with a few major changes. First off was the mainly white face, and the tail. Next thing that Giroro noticed was the cat-like ears sticking up from the orange cap, and then the white and pink kimono.

"Neh... I..." Giroro began... But what words could even begin to express what he felt then? Horror? Disgust? No, it was something even stronger. Rage was pretty close.

"Who's this?" Garuru looked over to Giroro, whose mouth was hung wide open.

"She looks like your Sergeant Major," Pururu added.

"...He's such an ugly woman," Tamama whispered in awe to Keroro. "I'm going to have nightmares about this!"

"Could you say, a love based on personality, not looks?" Mois added brightly.

"That's Kururu's older sister!" Saburo interjected.

"Y-yes!" Dororo nodded in confirmation." remember her distinctly! She and Giroro-dono dated for some time back on Keron!"

"I've never heard of her," Garuru took a step forward to the yellow Keronian, who blushed and "her" hands to "her" cheeks.

"Oh, please, don't look at me like that, I'm a such a shy person!" Kururu retrieved a fan, which he hid a majority of his face with. Giroro had to hold back from either vomiting or jumping across the room to strangle Kururu, either of which he could have done easily.

"We made punch!" Keroro shouted suddenly, running to the two Garuru platoon members with the said drinks. "Infused with real Pekopon fruits! Wait until you try star fruit!"

"What's your name?" Garuru continued. "And why's the child so old? I thought she was an infant."

"Giro-chan, would you make your brother stop being so creepy, it's scaring me a bit, kiki! I just want to enjoy a little more time with my daughter and have a good time, like everyone else!"

"He certainly does look like he's having a good time," Tamama muttered to Dororo, who gave a nod.

"Come on, Mama, let's find you a seat," Kirere led Kururu over to a seat at the table, then walked back and took hold of Giroro's hand, allowing him to snap out of his daze.

"I didn't realize looks... Ran that strong in the family..." Pururu added, looking over to Kururu, who sat at the table with his fan still. "So why is she so old?"

"An invention of her Uncle's," Fuyuki interjected. "She accidentally got into it... Soucho hasn't found a way to change her back, yet!"

"Even the smartest one isn't that bright," Natsumi said with a snort. Kururu's mouth twitched a bit.

Kirere now led Giroro over to the table, where he still sat, looking a bit stunned yet, and stared up at Garuru now.

"...What?" Garuru looked down at her. "Oh, this," he held out the toy to her, then folded his arms and looked away from her after she took it. "All right, where's the cake at?"

"Why are you doing this?" Giroro hissed in a whisper from across to the table to Kururu. "What have I ever done to you that you didn't deserve in the first place?"

"Would you rather tell him it's mine, or my homely sister's, ku ku?" Kururu laughed quietly at Giroro's expression. "Trust me, he's the last one I want knowing all of our platoon's secrets, ku ku! If they knew I could do this it'd be the only project they'd have me working on!"

"So it's to save your ass, bottom line. Figures," Giroro shook his head. "I'd shoot you right now."

"But you don't shoot women?"

"But it's too crowded here to get a clear shot," Giroro answered curtly. "If you try anything funny with me I'll have you buried in the backyard by the time the night's through, Kururu."

"Kiki! Such a sense of humor, Giro-kun!"

"And don't call me that!" Giroro slammed his fists down on the table and spat at Kururu. This attracted the attention of Garuru, and Keroro gave an apologetic laugh at this.

"They've been dealing with a lot of stress!" Keroro explained.

"With her illness and all!" Tamama added.

"Illness?" Garuru repeated, looking to the young subordinate now.

Keroro gave a grave nod, and Tamama chimed in, "That's why she sounds so awful and looks so sick!"

"And why she's had such a rotten personality as of late!" Keroro added.

"Well, she's always had that, but it's been a lot worse, recently," Tamama and Keroro joined in a stiff laugh at this.

Kururu's lenses cracked a little bit, and his mouth twitched. Giroro got a chuckle out of this, but it didn't take away the tension. Kirere still looked straight over at Garuru, either ready to start crying or attack him.

"She does look really sick, in my opinion," Pururu chimed in, "If she has what I think it is, then... She must not have very much time left at all..." as she said this, she gave a wink to Keroro. Keroro gave a surprised look; it seemed as though Pururu had seen straight through them, but was willing to play along.

"Kirere-chan, you should be having fun," Dororo walked over to the child and looked down at him. "This is your party, afterall! And look at how many people showed up for you!"

"...Is Garuru Chuii going to make us leave?" Kirere glanced up to Dororo, who seemed taken aback at first.

"Not tonight he won't."

"But eventually?"

"...Nothing is forever. That's what makes things like flowers so beautiful, because you know that their beauty's impermanent. You appreciate them while they're there, much like you appreciate the people around you... And the flowers always return after a long winter. That's beautiful, too," Dororo answered, and Kirere gave a chuckle. "Eh?"

"You sound silly when you're being serious... But I kinda know what you mean... Have a good time, right?"

"S-silly? ...But, yes, that's what I mean," Dororo replied with a nod.

Kirere looked about at the group of people, and then gave a nod. Dororo was pulled out of his quiet meditative stance as she took him by the hand and pulled him along to the cake.

"Kuku! Looks like she has a date," Kururu fanned himself as he watched Kirere hand a confused but grateful Dororo a slice of cake. "...She can do better, ku kukuku!"

"Here, figured you guys might want some," Natsumi walked over to the two and placed a slice in front of either of them. "That's a really cute kimono, Kururu, where'd you find it? It looks really familiar."

"It's a little tight on me. Kuku, I'll return it at the end of the night," Kururu answered as he picked up his fork.

Natsumi's eyebrow twitched a bit as she placed where she'd seen it before; it was her first kimono from when she was just a child, "...You're so dead..." she muttered, the smile not leaving her face. Kururu said nothing, but gave a chuckle and took a bite of the cake.

Giroro took a bite of his slice of cake, and chewed it a few times... Even for someone who wasn't a cake fan it tasted off... Then came the spicy aftertaste; it was like someone had added hot coals to the batter. He reached over to his drink, and downed the entire glass in one chug.

Similar reactions were spreading throughout the room. Even Garuru coughed once or twice and set the cake back down on the table. Keroro ran about looking for a drink, eventually finding a pitcher of punch and holding onto it for dear life.

"Kikikikikiki!" Kururu took another bite of his cake and his eerie grin grew a bit.

"Who the hell's idea of a joke is this?" Tamama growled, tossing his slice into the trash. "What bastard would ruin something as sacred as a cake?"

"Kikiki!" Kururu chuckled from his corner.

"Why'd you throw it away?" Kirere asked through a mouthful of the hot cake. "I would've finished it for you!"

"Kuku, she likes spicy foods, so I added an extra ingredient to the batter," Kururu explained to the enraged Giroro. "Kururu's extra spicy spice curry cake, kuku!"

"C-curry cake?" Giroro shouted in disbelief.

"Kuku! I have the recipe saved if you want to make it for my birthday, Senpai."

"You'll be lucky to see morning if you keep this up, much less your next birthday," Giroro growled in a low tone.

"Kuku! Maybe I should give Kirere-chan my gift, if that's how it is."

"If it's alive or has sharp teeth..."

"Kuku, what do you take me for? Anyone can make a little girl cry, there's no challenge in ruining something on them. That's why you're so much fun, Senpai, even after all this time!" Kururu pulled out a box from beneath the table and stood, walking over to Kirere, who had finished her second slice while the guests had switched to non-curry snacks.

"Open this one last!" he instructed her quietly, followed by a laugh. Kirere nodded, and set it down on the table with the other presents.

"I've got the camera working!" Fuyuki called out to Natsumi.

"Finally," Natsumi rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. "Okay, Kirere-cha, let's see what you got. Here, this one's from... Momoka-chan... .It's a little heavy..."

Kirere took the package, immediately falling to the ground with it the moment she took it from Natsumi's hands. Giroro rushed and helped her back up, and she unwrapped the beautiful paper and then opened the package.

"I got my first Hermes tea set at her age, so I thought it'd be a nice tradition to pass on," Momoka explained as Kirere examined the ornate white porcelain tea pot.

"...Hehe, that's Nishizawa-san for you," Fuyuki said with a nervous laugh.

"All I got her was a sweater," Natsumi added, feeling a bit humbled at the gift.

"Here's mine, Kii-chi!" Tamama called out, passing her his package now. She opened it, and pulled out a pair of boxing gloves. He gave her a determined grin, and she returned this, albeit briefly. This very Giroro-like look chilled Tamama a bit.

"T-this one's mine," Giroro held out a rectangular box to the young girl. "I didn't know exactly what to get, so..."

Kirere had finished opening the box, which hadn't even been wrapped, and pulled out what looked to be an oversized wrench.

"It's... Well, there's a manual in there..." Giroro looked a bit embarrassed as she studied the gift. "It's a weapon... A newer model..."

He wasn't prepared for the hug that followed, and his face grew redder at this gesture. He looked over to Garuru, but the purple Keronian remained blank-faced as always.

"This is from Dororo and me!" Koyuki held out a potted plant to the girl, who looked a bit puzzled.

"It's a bonsai, it's to promote peace and harmony in one's being, and best of all, it helps the environment by producing oxygen," Dororo explained with a nod.

Looking at the plant, Giroro knew the thing wouldn't last a month in Kirere's hands. He actually felt a bit sorry for it as it sat there while Kirere continued to open her gifts. Then again, it was from Dororo, so she would at least attempt to keep it alive. She now opened Pururu's gift, a tasteful wooden music box. As Kirere opened it to play the tune, Dororo became outwardly disturbed.

"A... That tune..." Dororo muttered.

"He's in his corner, Gunso," Tamama sighed as indeed Dororo's trauma switch snapped on, and he fled to his corner of solitude.

"K-keep opening your gifts... He'll be fine," Giroro instructed, turning the concerned young girl's head back toward the boxes.

"Kukuku, it's her party and she's the first one passed out!" Kururu chuckled as he saw the young girl leaning against Dororo, who looked a bit uncomfortable with the setup but remained calm and polite all the same. She had opened most of her gifts, but Kururu's still lay in her lap yet, only half-opened.

"Giroro," Garuru called from the doorway. "A moment."

Giroro set down his drink and stood, and many of the other party goers, who had settled into having a good time even after the cake incident, watched the two walk out of the room.

Giroro followed Garuru out of the Hinatas' house and into the backyard, where Giroro's tent stood. Garuru waited a moment, then began to speak. He only got a breath in when a loud crashing sound, like a close moving train or a hurricane, screeched through the night's sky.

"Get down!" Garuru shouted, and before Giroro could even begin to ask both he and Garuru fell to the ground. The dirt was kicked up all around them, Giroro's tent was crushed, as was the neighboring fence and the Hinatas' fence, and the ground continued to shake even after the ship's landing.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Did you invite them?" Garuru sat up and Giroro gave a grunt, recovering from having his older brother's weight thrown upon him.

"I don't even know who they are..." Giroro answered as he looked over the slender yet towering ship.

"Nephrodians," Garuru stood and looked it over. "But what're they doing here?"

"Are they friendly, or enemy?" Giroro lifted up his favorite rifle from the rubble and looked up at the teal and gunmetal-colored ship. There were two large obtrusions on either side, looking almost like claws. The ship itself was floating off the ground, it itself hadn't landed, as they previously thought. It was only the large set of stairs that had crushed both the fences and the tent.

"They're mercenaries, and probably one of the last groups you want on your bad side,"Garuru drew his own gun and kept his eyes set upon the door to the ship. "...What did you all do, exactly...?"

"What? W-why would you think we did something! There's no way one of us would do anything that stupid!" Giroro snapped, all the while having the sinking feeling that indeed they were the very reason for the invaders' appearance.

"Where's the green one, Keroro!" the door slid open, and Garuru stanced himself, keeping hold of his weapon. Giroro did the same, now looking over the invaders. They were more lobster like, than anything... But still dangerous looking. They were taller than even a full-grown Pekoponian, and much heftier looking. The four that initially stepped down the stairway were a brownish-red, with yellowed eyes and sharp, large claws that looked capable of crunching even the strongest weapon in Giroro's arsenal right in half.

"G-gero?" Keroro peeked out from the sliding glass door at the sight.

"Gunso, what'd you do now?" Fuyuki moaned.

"Kuku, I knew everything was going too well," Kururu chuckled. "Looks like they found us..."

"What?" all shot their heads in the direction of the kimono-clad Keronian.

"Kuku! Teicho wanted water-based weapon technology for the invasion, the Nephrodians don't have the best... In fact it's terrible, but a good concept! I improved upon it. Kukuku, I was only following my orders, and it made sense, considering their home planet is covered with as much water as Pekopon's, kukuku!"

"You let him do that?"Giroro snarled, clenching his fists and growling in Keroro's direction. "You idiot!"

The leader of the Nephronians didn't seem the least bit impressed by any of this exchange, "...You stole from us... You hacked into our system and then crashed it after doing it, too! We don't let anything go for free... We require some payment! You destroyed priceless equipment!"

"Gero... Um..." Keroro thought for a moment. â€œDoâ€¦. There's no chance you take checks, is there?"

"Grab one of them, preferably the green one! Do what you want with anything that gets in your way!" shouted the leader.

Three of the lower-level Nephrodians went in the direction of the group, Tamama first trying to hold them back with Tamama Impact, only to have it bounce off their shells. They gave a collective laugh at this, and kicked the little black Keronian away, knocking him clear across the living room. Koyuki went next, but was unprepared for what weapon one of the lackeys pulled out. It looked a great deal like a Keronian rifle, but with one hit she was encased in a bubble of water.

Garuru and Giroro attempted to fight off the leader while the others fought off the ever-growing Nephrodian forces in the Hinata household. Mois returned to her natural state and delivered a blow to several troops, knocking them back, but was taken by a sneak attack.

Momoka was caught trying to protect Fuyuki, and they were trapped in their own water prison together. Natsumi managed to beat off a few of the Nephrodians with a heavy metal skillet she'd found in the kitchen, but gave a scream as she was grabbed from behind around the neck.

"Natsumi!" Giroro shouted, breaking from his fight with the Nephrodian leader and running into the house.

"Giro-!" Garuru couldn't finish; the leader took this opportunity and smacked Garuru with the larger of his two heavy claws. This jarred Garuru a bit, and he was briefly cornered by the leader, only to watch the Nephrod leader's face jerk oddly, and then the invader fell to the ground a few moments, Pururu floating over him with a large syringe in hand. Garuru gave a nod, and she winked and gave a small grin in response.

"There's some soft spots in between the plating," she explained as she leaned forward and helped Garuru to regain his footing.

"Good to know," Garuru looked down at the leader and picked up his sniper rifle once more.

"GEROOOO!"

"Kuru..." was added blandly as Kururu and Keroro were rushed into the ship by two of the lackeys, Keroro kicking madly and Kururu simply slung over one of their shoulders.

Garuru rushed toward the opening, and managed to fire a shot before it closed, causing the door to only fold halfway, "That'll stop them from getting too far into orbit. Pururu, contact the ship! Tell Taruru, Zoruru, and Tororo we need them here as soon as possible!"

"Yeah," she nodded, running off to do just that while Garuru stayed by the hostage. "I can't get a signal!" she panted, running back to him.

"There's got to be something!" Giroro shouted from inside.

Garuru jerked his head in his brother's direction, and went rushing back into the house. "Stay with that thing! If he starts to move, knock him out again, this time harder! That's an order."

Garuru walked in to find most of the humans contained in the water prisons. Dororo was banging on Koyuki's, having found that he sword didn't work to break the bubble, and the said sword lay useless at his feet. The ninja girl was fading fast, and the other humans weren't doing much better. Tamama was still passed out on the ground from the blow he'd suffered, and Giroro was getting ready to take aim at the water-filled capsule Natsumi was in with his rifle, as a last-ditch effort.

Garuru looked up at Momoka and Fuyuki's bubble; she looked terrified, and he had grabbed hold of her hand. It was a few moments later the bubble exploded, and both fell to the ground. Saburo looked downward at this, cool as ever, and Kirere stood at his legs, peeking out from behind one to see the soaked duo coughing madly.

Saburo then went to Koyuki, quickly sketching a zipper on a side of the bubble and then unzipping it, allowing for the water to rush out. He then followed up with Mois, and finally Natsumi, who had been the last to be imprisoned.

"They have you Platoon leader and her... Mother," Garuru looked over to Giroro as the red Keronian stood by Natsumi, making sure she was indeed all right. "We've got a hostage of our own."

"We're going to get them back, right?" Kirere chimed in, looking up at Giroro.

Giroro nodded, "Dororo, wake up Tamama. We'll go with Garuru to get them back."

"Pururu can stay to watch over their leader and try to get in contact with my platoon," Garuru added.

"I'm going, too," Natsumi added. "Someone has to help you stupid frogs, you couldn't do it on your own."

"I'll go, too," Kirere called out.

"No," Giroro answered firmly, and looked down at her. "This is no time to fight about it, you'll get hurt."

"I want to help, too! It's why I'm here in the first place!"

"Then... Look after everyone," Giroro bent down in front of her. "You'll have your turn to fight, but this isn't it."

She seemed outwardly upset, but there was no time to talk things over. Dororo had revived Tamama at this point, and they were off after the ship with Giroro and Garuru. Natsumi, now equipped with her power suit, followed last.

Kirere watched from outside the wretched house as they flew upward toward the invader ship, which was still visible in the night sky, and then back to Pururu, who was pacing and still trying to contact her ship.

"It's like they've knocked out all satellites," she muttered to herself, removing her hand from her earpiece and looking upward. "I can't get a hold of anyone."

"My cell phone's out, too," Momoka added, still attempting to redial as she walked out.

Kirere thought for a few moments, looking downward, then went running toward the lab.

"Kirere-chan!" Fuyuki shouted. "Where're you going?"

"To see if there's something Kururu-san has that Pururu can use to contact the ship!" she lied, not looking back at anyone as she disappeared.

She zoomed out a few minutes later, on Kururu's hovercraft, zooming past everyone who had gathered out in the pit that was the backyard. She had to help her parents and prove she was more than an annoyance somehow.

"You don't know where you're going but you're definitely not wasting time getting there," she heard, and snapped her head over to see Saburo riding on something that resembled a large paper airplane. He had on his same cool expression as usual, and smiled as he looked over to her. "You really want to save them, huh?"

"I've got to try," she answered. "Don't stop me, or I'll-"

"Are you kidding? I'm coming to help you... Yellow, short, and creepy said I'm in charge of you if something happens to them, so I guess this is kinda being responsible."

He shook a little bit as they reached the high altitude where the ship had settled, now floating serenely on its side like a bullet or more appropriately fishing lure, and it didn't take long for them to find the action. The Nephrodians had air transport of their own, backpacks much like the ones Giroro and Garuru wore. They were focusing mainly on the weak points in between the joints of the Nephrods, but were still taking a beating.

"H-hey, where're you going?" Kirere shouted as Saburo continued to float toward the ship.

"To fetch my wave buddy! The backup forces are here!"

"Backup?" she asked aloud, and looked back to see Angol Mois, with a grinning and battle-ready Koyuki in her arms.

"Don't get hurt, Kururu will kill me!" he shouted before he disappeared into the depths of the battle.

Kirere then looked about, wondering exactly what to do next; she hadn't planned this far ahead. It didn't take long from her to find something to do, however. The sky was littered with Nephrodians, and two came rushing towards her, laser swords in hand. She pulled out the wrench-looking weapon Giroro had given her earlier that evening and took fire. A laser shot from the end of it, and she managed to blow one back, causing his buddy to fall back as well as the one Kirere hit tumbled back from the blow.

"H-hey, I got it!" she gasped.

"Kirere!" Giroro shrieked as he saw her from across the airborne battlefield. "I told you to stay! You're... You're purposefully disobeying a superior!"

"She's your daughter, she's not supposed to listen to you!" Garuru called out, taking fire and knocking out another Nephrodian's angel pack and sending them tumbling down from the sky.

"Get back, now!" Giroro growled as he shot at another of the large lobster-like invaders. Kirere was about to answer, but both turned in horror as Garuru took a blow to the back, knocking out his angel pack and sending him sailing to the ground.

"Nii-chan!" Giroro shouted.

The blow had been a heavy one. Garuru could hear the fighting going on for a few moments, but then it was all drowned out by the whistling of the heavy air about him.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, however, when he became aware of a new heaviness on his back. As he saw the small pink hand on his shoulder, he knew exactly who it was.


	12. Chapter 12

shed back to the ship.

"Why're they retreating?" Natsumi looked over to Tamama, who shook his head and held onto the arm which he had injured during battle.

"Maybe we were too much for them," Giroro muttered.

"Get serious," Garuru snapped, and they finished entering the large, still broken entrance, which folded back up to the best of its ability. Then the ship was off suddenly, with such a sonic boom that they all flew back from its backlash.

"UGH!" Giroro fell back into Natsumi, and he caught him, and held onto him, even as they stopped flying back.

"We should get back and check on the others," Garuru floated in front of them, as well as Tamama and Dororo. "See if we can figure out what they're planning from there."

They returned to the Hinata house, and Kururu walked out, carrying his laptop, "They've got a main base, kukukuku! Looks like they're returning to get help."

"Well, what're we standing here for!" Tamama shouted. "Let's go after them!"

"Kukuku! It's under the ocean," Kururu explained, and the Nephrodian leader gave a laugh.

"Best of luck getting to it... Even if you stole our technology, it's a poor copy."

"Kukuku! I didn't copy anything. I took a piece of garbage and reworked it into something usable," Kururu answered, taking a seat on the ground and typing away at it. "Plus your second in the command is the fool who decided to park that close near a fault line. But you didn't think you'd be here this long, did you? Kuuukukuku!"

"Wait, where's Kirere?" Giroro looked about quickly, but not seeing any sign of the pink Keronian.

"Doing her part, kukukuku!" Kururu answered with a laugh. "Kuuuukukukuku!"

"Y-you're sure this thing's safe to fly?" Keroro clung onto the steering of the watercraft, the same one Kirere had sunk on Kururu only days before.

"The flying's okay... It's the underwater part that I'm not sure about," Kirere muttered as she sat in the co-pilot's chair.

"Eheheheh," Keroro gave a nervous laugh, and sat back a bit.

"The radar says it's right ahead, Keroro-san," Kirere glanced at the screen and looked back at Keroro. "Keroro-san?"

Keroro was shaking horribly; nearly every time he'd been around this girl, something had gone awry. And they were getting closer and closer to the water, the waves getting more and more distinct as he now tilted the ship downward toward the said green ocean. They disrupted a sleeping flock of seagulls as they finally broke through the water, and Keroro shut his eyes tight, praying to whoever would listen to him.

Then silence. The lights to the inside cabin flickered on, and Kirere looked over to Keroro and gave a smile. The sergeant slowly opened his eyes, and looked about.

"H-hey, it... This isn't so bad," Keroro looked around at the black ocean that filled the windows now. "How much further are they?"

"Pretty far, but we're going pretty quick, right?" Kirere looked over to Keroro for confirmation. "Hey, Keroro-san... Why were you looking so scared before? I mean, I thought you were a brave soldier, and... You kinda looked like a chicken."

"Um... W-well..." those bright blue eyes were large and innocent, much like Angol Mois'S. He couldn't tell her she was a jinx, even Keroro, who wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, knew what this would result in. "I'm afraid of... Angler fish!"

"Angler fish?"

"They're much more menacing than anyone gives them credit for, Kirere-chan!" Keroro answered seriously. "They're the scourge of the Pekoponian oceans!"

"Hey, I think I see them!" she stood and pointed out the window to the quickly-approaching sea floor, and the large silver bowl off in the distance. It was lit by rows and rows of windows, giving them a good idea of exactly how large it was. It would have been a better idea to take a larger craft, Keroro thought with a twitching eye as he looked upon the size. It was easily twice as tall as Nishizawa tower, and the girth... Keroro didn't even want to try to figure it out, it would only make him feel more sick.

"Kururu-san, we're here!" Kirere called into her headset.

"Kukuku, very good, you're already there and you're not dead, so you're doing better than I thought," Kururu chuckled. "Satellite systems are back on, Teicho."

"Kururu Soucho, how exactly do we go about subduing this... Army?" Keroro looked out the window, his gut churning at the thought of how many lobster creatures laid inside, prepping a full-out Pekopon assault.

"Kukukuku! With something I developed from their technology, Teicho," Kururu explained. "They're anchored near a fault line for the time being, so we're... Kukukuku! Going to use it to shake things up a bit!"

"I didn't like that laugh, but all right," Keroro looked over the control panel and glanced over the buttons, and pressed the yellow one. Their craft floated down onto the floor of the ocean, near one of the very fault lines. Next, Keroro pressed the blue button to the left of the yellow one.

"What's he doing, Kururu-san?" Kirere asked as she felt the watercraft shake a bit.

"Kukukuku, we're going to make an earthquake," he answered, "A specialty attack of the Nephrods, but poor in its original form. Kuku, you might want to cover your ears!"

Kirere was about to speak, but anything she said was quickly drowned out by a booming, shaking humming noise. Keroro himself gave a yell at this, and both covered their ears and waited for the shaking, which was now even more violent, to stop. It only became worse, and the ship began to rattle dangerously close to the fault. Keroro managed to remove his hands from his ears long enough to pull up, before they fell too deep into the darkness, and landed them back safely on the ocean floor.

The Nephrodian ship wasn't so lucky, and teetered back and forth from the dramatic vibrations before turning onto its side and slipping down into the dark fault.

"Hey, we did it!" Kirere shouted as she watched the large metal base continue to slip down and the bright lights from the mothership eventually dim and then disappear. Their happiness ended quickly, however, as both became aware of a new wetness on the floor.

"I've got this!" Kirere shouted as they looked back and saw where some of the rivets in a corner of the ship had popped off from the vibration.

"Right!" Keroro nodded, and pulled up hard at full force, sending them shooting upward. "We can't die! I've got a stack of Gunpla at home that I haven't even touched!"

"Senpai, it looks like you're taking on water," Kururu said blandly from his side of the earphones.

"It's just a small leak!" Keroro reassured him with a laugh, when in fact it was up to Keroro's ankles already.

"It better be!" Giroro's voice growled over the frequency. "If she's hurt, you're going to wish I killed you, Keroro!"

"G-gerooo! We've got this under control, Giroro Goucho! There's nothing to worry about at all!" as Keroro spoke, another rivet popped off, sticking right into the glass and making yet another hole.

"I've almost got this!" Kirere shouted back to Keroro as she continued to work on applying adhesive to the gaping holes. The water was now approaching her waist.

"G-good, because I've got another project for you up here, Kirere-chan!" Keroro shouted. The pressure from the depth they were in and the speed they were going was taking its toll on the ship; Keroro kept pulling upward at full power, however.

The water was starting to look less dark, but it was still pouring in by the bucketload, now from the window as well. The window itself was beginning to form a spiderweb of cracks. The water was up to Kirere's shoulders as she trudged over with the tool bag in her hands.

She hopped up on the control panel and went to work apply the adhesive when suddenly the ship jerked to a halt. She went flying back, landing right against Keroro full force and giving a yelp while Keroro had the wind knocked out of him.

"W-what happened?" she sat up on Keroro and looked about, dazed at the new brightness that filled the cabin. "A-are we dead?"

"Eh?" Keroro adjusted in his seat a bit, and looked straight ahead. "It... It looks like... Gero gero gi!"

Kirere gave a laugh and put her arms around Keroro's neck, and the sergeant joined in this laugh, and carried her out to the escape hatch of the ship.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Both sat up on the hood of the ship as they waited for a rescue party, Kirere sitting with her knees up to her chin and Keroro cross-legged.

"And against the odds, I live to see another fine sunrise on Pekopon!" Keroro gave a grin and sighed in relief. "Looks to be a clear day out today!"

"So we're going to be here a little while longer, right, Keroro-san?" Kirere looked over to him, clearly worried.

"Well, the pickup ship ought to be arriving shortly..."

"No, I mean on Pekopon."

"Ah! Well, we're here until the invasion is complete, Kirere-chan! ...That's taken a few more steps back, though, with the... Untimely destruction of this fine device."

"What about after you invade it?"

"And take over all of the Gunpla factories? Well, it wouldn't hurt keeping a vacation home, I suppose. I've grown to like the beaches here, even with their cruel and harsh sunlight... And... And I'd miss Mama-Dono and Fuyuki-Dono... And maybe even Natsumi-Dono now and again."

"I'll stay and look after the Gunpla factories for you, then!" Kirere piped up. "When you're away conquering other planets! And I can look after Mama-dono and Fuyuki-dono, for you, too!"

Keroro laughed and patted her on the head, "I'll always encourage a healthy, character-building hobby like Gunpla! You're quite fortunate to be able to be able to start early, Kirere-chan!"

"That's not what I-"

"Kirere-channn!"

"Giroro-san?" Kirere stood at the sound of the scream, and moments later, Giroro jumped out of the transport ship, landing on the hood and running to her. He made sure she was okay, then grabbed Keroro by the neck and began to shake.

"If you EVER... Put my daughter in danger like that AGAIN... I... I-"

"Giroro-san, stop! You're going to scramble his brain!" Kirere yelped.

"That would involve him actually having one!" Giroro didn't relent until a few moments later, when he had had his fill of Keroro abuse. Keroro staggered a bit, and fell back onto the hood of the seacraft, and Giroro panted and sat down, leaning forward and gathering his thoughts. Kirere poked the Keronian soldier on the shoulder, then looked over and grinned as Giroro looked over in her direction. He returned the smile in between pants.

"Looks like it's definitely scrap now, kukuku!" Kururu climbed down from the rope ladder and looked over the damage, focusing a moment on the bolt that was wedged in the window, "Eh...?"

Kirere stood fidgeting, looking over Kururu, who still after all this time remained in the borrowed kimono. Kururu looked down at her, "...Don't even think about it, kukuku."

"Take the hug like a man, damn it!" Giroro pushed Kururu forward, causing him to fall into Kirere.

The scientist gave a yelp as Kirere indeed did hug him, and fell back, his glasses totally shattered and his body twitching.

"Now let's get you back home," Giroro stood and took her hand. "I'm grounding you for being careless when you jumped to save Garuru, by the way. He's not worth it."

"I hope I'm not that mean to my little brother," Kirere muttered as she climbed up the ladder. Giroro balked at this, and stuttered wildly.

"You, y-you're not getting a little brother! N-not for a while, at least! And not from him, definitely!"

"Kukuku, well, it has to be before I'm an old maid, Giro-kun," Kururu had recovered and replaced his glasses, and now climbed up the ladder, followed by a teeth-grinding Giroro.

"I am NOT giving you the opportunity to get my DNA again, Kururu!" Giroro snarled as he reached the transport ship.

Kururu chuckled, and looked back at Giroro, then slipped one of the kimono shoulders off, "Chu..."

"ARRGH! I've had enough of you! DIE!" Giroro growled, and ran for Kururu while Kirere watched, giggling to herself.

"They're like an old married couple," Tamama muttered plainly from the driver's seat. Dororo, in the passenger seat, nodded sagely.

"Ugh... What a night..." Keroro finished climbing up the ladder and stepped into the ship, but was soon knocked off by Giroro, who had stopped in order to take fire at Kururu.

"GEROOOO!"

SPLASH!

"...Looks like another rescue..." Tamama sighed as he looked out and saw Keroro splashing about in the ocean water.

The sun had fully risen and it was morning by the time they finally arrived back at the Hinata residence, and came upon the strange sight of Aki handing Garuru and Pururu each a cup of hot tea.

"We'll take him with us, we've already called the ship for pickup," Garuru explained, nodding back in the direction of the Nephrodian leader. "...I want to speak with Kirere in private for a few moments."

"Eh?" Giroro drew back in surprise, and Kirere looked puzzled as Garuru handed Pururu his tea and led the young girl off, still visible but even out of Giroro's earshot. Giroro couldn't help but think that Garuru had done this on purpose.

"He wants me to come and stay a week with him!" Kirere announced happily as she ran back to the group.

Giroro looked up at Garuru, and could have sworn the purple Keronian briefly gave a hint of a grin. Garuru then motioned for Giroro to walk over. Giroro did so after hesitating a moment, and stood in front of Garuru, looking him straight in the eye.

"I won't even ask why your Sergeant Major is dressed up in a woman's kimono and posing as your girlfriend, I'll just chalk that up to the elevator not reaching the top flight with him to begin with. But let him know if he ever does something like that in front of me again they'll never find his body."

Giroro said nothing, but gave a nod. So Garuru hadn't fallen for it, after all. It didn't surprise Giroro in the least.

"...She's a cute kid," Garuru added. "A lot like you as a kid. Has that same smile."

"The ship's here," Pururu called over to Garuru. Garuru looked at her and gave a nod, "We'll BE taking the Nephrodian with us. The Pekoponian female did a good job wrapping him up."

Giroro and Garuru looked over at the struggling invader; indeed Koyuki had bound him up tightly, making escape near-impossible. She smiled proudly over her work, while Dororo stood beside her, his arms folded and looking complacent as usual.

"What're you going to do with him?" Giroro inquired, and looked back at Garuru. Garuru kept his eyes on the struggling alien.

"Take him to the proper authorities. They can deal with the garbage. As far as I know, I was just here for my niece's birthday party."

The ship was now floating over the Hinata household, and Garuru straightened up, and walked back over to Pururu.

"You guys are coming back soon, right?" Kirere asked excitedly. "You can come over whenever you want!"

"N-n-n-now Kirere-chan!" Keroro began, while the rest of the platoon's faces switched to pure horror.

"We'll be around," Garuru answered. "Take care, Kirere-chan."

"We can't wait to have you over," Pururu added, patting her shoulder. "Keep your parents and your uncles in line, all right?"

"Yeah!" Kirere laughed, and stood back as both the Keronians and the rogue Nephrodian was lifted up onto the ship. "Bye! See you soon! Bye!"

Garuru gave a salute, followed by Pururu, and the Keroro Platoon exchanged the salute. Giroro leaned over and adjusted Kirere's awkward salute.

"Come on, it's your bedtime," Giroro took the young girl's hand and sighed after the ship was out of sight.

"I'm not sleepy..." she grumbled.

"Well then we'll start your grounding now," Giroro answered tiredly as they walked into the Hinata household. Saburo had gone home, as had Koyuki. Momoka was asleep on the couch, with Paul standing over her, looking like a century as always, and Natsumi and Fuyuki were looking over the damage in the kitchen and living room.

"Hey, Stupid Frog! I've got a job for you!" Natsumi called out. "I need your friends in here, too!"

Kirere tugged on Giroro's arm, and he stopped and glanced at her. It only took a glance for him to know what she wanted, and he lifted up, carrying her to her room the rest of the way.


	14. Chapter 14

"Now get to bed," Giroro pulled the sheets back and set her down on the bed. "You were definitely up past your bedtime."

"I'm glad Garuru didn't make us leave... He's really nice!" Kirere said with a yawn. ...I don't know why everyone was so afraid of him..."

"He has his moments," Giroro muttered.

"And Pururu-san's really cool, too! I-"

"We'll talk more about this later. As of now, it's time to get to bed. For all of us," Giroro pulled the sheets over here and stood. By the time he reached the doorway to switch off her light, she was fast asleep. It was only then Giroro became aware of a half-opened package on her dresser. He walked over, picking up the package; from the wrapping paper, white with orange swirls, it was obviously Kururu's gift. It looked as though she had fallen asleep while opening it at her party earlier.

He took a seat outside her door, and finished pulling off the paper. It was a book, from the looks of it a photo album.

Giroro looked left, and then right. No one in sight. He then opened the first page, and began to skim through the pages. It was photos of everyone in the Platoon, as well as their human allies; from some incidents Giroro didn't even know Kururu had been around to catch on film.

Failed invasion strategies, holidays, trips to the beach... There was one of Giroro doing his Sumomo impression, pink bow on his head and all. He quietly pulled this out of the album and hid it in his belt.

"Kukukuku! Do you like my work?"

"A lot of these photos make me look like an idiot," Giroro looked upward to Kururu, glaring.

"Well, you do put yourself in that situation a lot of times, kukukuku!" Kururu was out of makeup and kimono now, and back to his usual, albeit less creepy out of drag, self.

"This is... Very nice..." Giroro muttered.

"Kuku!" Kururu laughed. "Don't get used to it. I don't do nice."

With that he walked away from Giroro, singing to himself, and allowing Giroro to continue flipping through the pages of the book. When Giroro fell on the last page, he stopped a moment in surprise. It wasn't a very old picture at all. It was one of he and Kirere, both were on the bed, and he was clutching onto the nekokoneko.

Both were fast asleep.

"Heh," was all Giroro said to this, and he shut the book.

"Well, she looks like she's got the most sense out of any of you, which is sad because she's a kid," Natsumi sipped a glass of juice from the bar of the kitchen while Keroro kept at sweeping up the broken dishes. "You better not do something to screw that up, Stupid Frog."

"Gunso, aren't you afraid those guys are going to come back? I mean, is there a chance they'll get out of there?" Fuyuki added.

"Gero, I wouldn't be too sure about that, Fuyuki-dono. And on the off hand chance they were foolish enough to do so we would be ready for them!"

"What's this "we"?" Natsumi snorted. â€œAll you did was get captured, and then nearly killed yourself and Kirere! You're the one who started this in the first place, if you think about it!"

"W-what! How dare you point a finger at me like that! It was just another brush with my as of recent bad luck! I had no part in it!"

"Hrmph... We're just lucky no one was hurt," Natsumi muttered.

"Bad luck?" Fuyuki perked up at this. "What bad luck?"

Keroro stopped, and leaned against his broom as he spoke, "Well, it seems as though whenever I'm around Kirere-chan, that... My luck seems to take a turn for the worst."

"I didn't see anything like that happen while you were around her at the party," Fuyuki said, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Your luck's always bad, Stupid Frog. So what's the difference if she's around or not?"

"N- Nee-chan's got a point there, Gunso. Things usually don't turn out the way you want to begin with, even before Kirere-chan came along," Fuyuki added, doing his best to not hurt the stunned Sergeant's feelings.

"...Where'd Mois-chan go to?" Natsumi looked about the messy living room and kitchen. "I haven't seen her in a while..."

"Hrm, she said she had to do something for Kururu Soucho," Keroro explained as he resumed pushing along broken ceramic on the floor and into the dustpan. "She promised she'd come and help with this afterward, however."

There was a yawn, and Kirere shuffled out into the living room, "My nekokoneko's missing..."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" right through the opened glass door, and straight for the sergeant. Kogoro, carrying a white box over one shoulder, didn't even notice Keroro face-down under one of his feet.

"Excuse us, excuse us!" came the weak-voiced apology, who could only be busy. "We had some difficulties making the trip here, we're very sorry!" she added, all while bowing.

"M-maybe that stupid frog's onto something," Natsumi said in awe as Keroro gave a groan.

Meanwhile, somewhere outside of Pekopon's atmosphere, the Nephroid ship had managed to pull itself out of the crag it had sunk down into, and was making a hasty escape, albeit without their captain and the ship only working at a fourth its capacity.

"We'll come back for the captain," the second-in-command shouted while making his rounds through the control room.

"S-Sir, there seems to be a few problems!" shouted one at the main computer.

"What problems?" the second-in-command shouted, leaning over the underling's shoulder to get a better look at the screen. All began to flash, and then one by one, they switched to white, save for the familiar yellow swirl and "Kululu's Labo" written underneath it.

"Kuuuukukukuku!" began to echo through the speakers, and all looked around, stopping dead at the sound.

"S-sir!"

"What now!"

The Nephroidian said nothing, only pointed to the window. There sat Angol Mois, smiling and holding onto her staff.

"Could you say, my time to shine?" she said with a grin and a giggle.

"Hrm?" Giroro looked up at the sky, and frowned. Another falling star, and visible in the daytime. Curious.

"Giroro-san?"

"Eh? Kirere-chan? You're supposed to be in bed," Giroro stopped polishing his weapon and sat back, and looked over at the young girl, who gave a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

"I know... I woke up and I couldn't sleep," she yawned and took a seat next to him on the cinder block. "Kururu-san was being really loud..."

"That's never good," Giroro muttered, now leaning over to poke at the dying fire. He tensed up as the girl leaned against him, and glanced down at her, noting the serious expression. "We're staying for the time being. Like I said, it's nothing to worry over."

"I know. I'm just tired," she said with another yawn. "But I'm glad. You don't have to leave Natsumi-san."

"And you don't have to leave Dororo," he added absently.

"HEY!" she gasped, and came to attention. "W-what does that mean?"

Giroro gave a small laugh, and continued to poke at the fire, not stopping even after she began to push his shoulder. It was good to be the one not being made fun of for his crush for a change, he thought.

"Don't you tell!" she stood back and fumed as she saw he wasn't going anywhere." If you tell, I, I-"

"I won't, that's a soldier's promise."

"Promise as my dad," she snapped, and folded her arms. Giroro stopped a moment; it was so odd being referred to as someone's "dad".

"...Fine. I promise as your father," he nodded, and she sat next to him, satisfied with this. "...He's a little old for you."

She gave another push at this, but this one more playful, and she smiled as she did so. Giroro only gave a small laugh at this, and patted her on the head.

Chief Mechanic Kirere was there to stay. And that was okay.

End.

Ge-gero!~


End file.
